Princess Versus The Great Divide
by This is the real deal
Summary: Everything is all about the 'Powerpuff Girls'. The brats aren't even good heroes! Well, I won't stand it any longer! My name, is Princess Morbucks, and my plan is to destroy the Powerpuff Girls by beating them at their own game, becoming Townsville's NEW superhero! But it's hard work, with conspiracies, fatal slumber parties, and well dressed supervillains. I have a lot to learn!
1. I'M CHASED BY A ROBOT ON DISCOUNT

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Powerpuff Girls or any of its affiliated work or gain profit from it, this is just a fanfiction tribute. You know, considering it _is_ on there's not much else it _could_ be really** **….**

 **CHAPTER 1: I'M CHASED BY ROBOT ON DISCOUNT**

And _this_ was why I hated the Powerpuff Girls. It wasn't their stupid faces or annoying voices or the way they're such big glory hogs or how everybody just _loves_ them like they're the greatest thing since television. No, it was none of those. Well, maybe it was some of those things, but _mainly_ it was how oblivious, how naïve, how _stupid_ they were while doing this! All while looking down at me with their snot nosed faces and their stupid smug grins. Like the one Blossom wore, flying high above me, looking down at the mess she'd caused 'saving the day'. And you know what the worst part was? I didn't even do anything!

Sure, I still called them names and picked on them, and I used to occasionally try to take over Townsville, but all the names I called them were true! And they always started it! And the part about Townsville? Well, I already practically _owned_ Townsville, you have to cut me some slack. And I was a kid! I still had milk teeth! How was I supposed to know better?

Okay, maybe I should get you up to speed. In case you didn't know, my name is Princess. Princess Morbucks. No, not _princess_ Morbucks, _Princess_ Morbucks. It's my name, and a pretty one at that. Make fun of it and you'll be sorry! I live in Townsville, the city with the most confusing name ever, and I'm just your regular, twelve year old girl, who just so happens to have a bajillion dollars. And I was just doing regular, twelve year old girl things, at the mall with my most trusted lackey, and the only one I didn't pay to have around me.

We were at the food court, trying to blend into the faceless masses that wandered around us, pretending to do something important. On either side of us were a bunch of cheap, tasteless fast food restaurants, and we were seated at a wooden table with a pointless little umbrella since we were _indoors_. A few more tables were grouped around us, but most of them were empty, thank goodness, and the there was a spiky potted plant by the railing that signalled the end of the restaurant and the start of the rest of the mall.

"I can't believe that place didn't have any Chanel Number 19 perfume!" I yelled. "'The best perfume that money can buy', she said, and yet she doesn't even have Number 19! I mean, _come on_! If a business is gonna promise the customers something, then it's their job to follow through and deliver, no matter what! And if there's no Number 19, then it's not even _close_ to the best, and that's before we even _talk_ about money!"

"Calm down, Princess, it's just a-" I glared at the girl sitting opposite me until she'd done some rethinking on what she was about to say, then started again. "Even if there's no Number 19, there was still a bunch of other cool stuff. You can't exactly blame them, wasn't it discontinued in the US?"

"And that's why I can't forgive them! They've got money, right? Then they can import more!"

"It's not that easy… look, I get you're upset, but can you _please_ relax? You're making a scene." That was going to be tricky. I was fuming! I was virtually in tears! Tears of rage, mind you, not grief. Ladies don't cry unless it's absolutely necessary. They just get even with whoever upsets them. But, I did get what she was saying. I was starting to attract a few unwanted stares, and I'm pretty sure that it wasn't _all_ because of my super chic attire. I took a deep breath and unclenched my fists. I didn't even know that I was gripping the table cloth so hard. Any longer and I probably would have torn the whole thing apart. I could hear Saffron sighing in relief.

Saffron didn't seem to share my awesome sense of fashion, but she was presentable in her own ragtag 'I'm sporty' way, with black shorts, a navy blue tank top, and a cyan hair band. She had dark, thick hair that extended almost to the small of her back, though how she maintained it was a mystery. Her eyes were olive green and almond shaped, and her face would have looked cute if she wasn't next to somebody as gorgeous as _me_. Anyway, that was all from memory, because right then there were two big shopping bags on the table that got in the way of her face. Don't get me wrong, I don't shop like this every day, but it was a lot easier to carry everything when Saffron was around. The load feels so much lighter when you don't have to lift a muscle.

So, pouting, I slurped loudly from my milkshake, draining the whole thing in one go and trying my best not to let the brain freeze show.

"Whatever. I'll just ask Daddy to get some before he comes back from France."

"What does your dad even do anyway?" Saffron asked, sweeping the shopping bags out of the way. I forgot that she had freckles. Oh well. I folded my arms, my nose upturned.

"What he does isn't my problem. All that matters is that he keeps getting me stuff."

"That's… kinda harsh, don't ya think?"

"Who cares if it is? I could care less about what he does."

"Somehow, I feel like you're lying." I glared at her with the force of a cobra. Most people stopped right in their tracks when I did that, but Saffron just shrugged her shoulders like she didn't care. I guess she'd heard all the threats I was about to make already, so I just stayed silent, glaring at my empty milkshake like it had stolen my candy.

"Stupid, stupid town, with its stupid food and its stupid people, stupid, stupid McStupid face," I grumbled. I'd only been out for an hour and I already wanted to go home. Then I heard somebody else who sounded like they wanted to get out of there more than I did. A little girl actually, shrieking and kicking and crying her head off, tugging her mommy in the complete opposite direction to where she was trying to go. I didn't know what they were arguing about or where they were trying to go, but even with a hundred people in the food court, I could hear the girl's cries and yells echoing all over the mall. Her mom was frustrated and panicked, and was probably a few moments away from snapping outright.

Saffron, and just about the whole food court, had joined me in staring at them.

"Wow, somebody's having a worse day than I am," I said with a satisfied grin.

"That kid would be so cute if she wasn't so nightmarish," Saffron commented.

"Her mom's still terrible at handling her though," I added. "Not that I would know I guess…."

"Hey, doesn't the kid look a little like you?"

"She does not!"

"Does too! She's got the same hair texture and style, just that hers is brown. She even has the same freckles!"

"That little monster looks nothing like me!" I yelled. "She looks like I could step on her by accident!"

"You just don't want to admit it, do you?" I stuck my tongue out at her, and she stretched the sides of her mouth and widened her eyes back. I upped my game, squishing my cheeks together till my lips looked like a fish, and she pulled out her ears and blew up her face till she looked like a monkey. We kept going like this until we were both laughing our heads of, clutching our sides and banging the table till it stopped.

My fist slammed against the table, and the sky slammed against my ears. What? That's what it felt like! Have you ever heard an explosion go off right above your head? Imagine somebody punching you in the ears with a fist made of sound! Or a firework exploding in your brain!

A huge chunk of the roof got blown off, blasting into a thousand pieces as it rained chunks of glass and steel down onto the food court. Everybody erupted into a shrieking panic, scattering into a thousand different directions as they tried to figure out what was happening. Saffron covered her head, ducking beneath the table like it was an earthquake. That was probably smarter than what I did since I just looked up at the ceiling in a daze. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, living in Townsville and all, but I was still pretty shocked when I saw the face of a giant robot staring down at me.

This was a genuine two hundred ton, twenty foot tall monstrosity, coloured police blue with white stripes and accents on its arm and strangely human—like face. It was standing on top of the roof, still holding a part of it that it hadn't completely blown apart. It flung it away like a Frisbee, the piece of metal sailing off in the distance.

"Saffron, let's go," I said.

"My legs don't feel like moving right now," she murmured.

"Well _I_ don't feel like becoming a million dollar pancake. Come on!" I yanked her out from under the table and headed for the exit. Halfway there I remembered I'd left my stuff behind. It kind of hurt me, but I could always ask Daddy to replace them so it was fine. Still, I looked back anyway out of habit. And I froze.

The little girl was still in the middle of the food court, crouched down and balling her eyes out. The crowd of people had dispersed to everywhere _but_ the middle of the food court, pushing and shoving and carrying each other in the flood of confused bodies. She must have gotten separated from her mother when the roof exploded. Her mom was probably somewhere in the crowd, getting swept up with everybody else.

Well, the girl wasn't my problem. I had to take care of myself. I could leave her to somebody more qualified, like the police or the military or… I hate myself for thinking this, but the _Powerpuff Girls_. I was going to leave her to cry there too if I hadn't seen the robot's fingers appearing over the lip of the hole it had punched through the ceiling. Its whole body was leaning forward. Any minute now and it would dive into the mall. And right in the middle of its landing zone was….

"Princess?" Saffron asked. I'd stopped moving. I bit my lip, clenching my fists until my knuckles turned the colour of chalk. "What's wrong?"

 _This isn't my problem, I should ignore it_ , I thought to myself.

 _But I'm going to hate myself if I do_ , I replied. To myself.

 _I'll kick myself no matter_ what _I do_ , I guess I replied. Again, to myself. The conversation didn't sound healthy.

"Go on, minion," I said. "I have to get that… I have to get my stuff," I covered up. "I'll catch up with you later." Saffron looked like she was going to argue (whether it was about the minion comment or me chasing my stuff, I don't know), and then we heard the sound of twisting metal and an engine howling into life. Her face turned pale and she nodded her head, going on ahead of me. I sprinted back to the middle of the food court.

Unless we were lucky, the Powerpuff Girls would only come if somebody raised a signal to their hotline. And then it would take them a few minutes at most to get here from their home. By that time, that girl would be a little grease puddle on the pavement. And if I tried to save her, then so would I.

So why was I heading towards the girl and not my far more valuable stuff?

Well, it didn't matter what my answer was.

Because it jumped into the mall.

"Get out of the way!" I screamed, diving for the girl, tackling her to the ground at least a couple of feet away. We hit the floor at the same time the robot did. It landed like an earthquake, dislodging just about _everything_ , including my fillings. Dust and debris filled the air as it landed, sending us both into coughing fits. I looked behind me. I could barely see anything through the smoke and dust, but I peered through it anyway, vaguely making out the silhouette of something big and scary with glowing yellow eyes. I got up, pulling the girl by her hand and practically dragging her out of there just a moment before I heard a strange 'twang' sound, like a beam being fired.

I could feel the heat radiating behind my back, but I didn't slow down for a second. I'm pretty sure I sped _up_ , my life on the line. I took the first turn right that I could find, skidding around it with the girl before grinding to a halt. Apparently, the monster did more damage to the roof than I thought, because I was facing down a giant dead end made of rubble and debris.

"Who are you?" the girl screamed.

 _That's not the first question I'd ask, but okay I guess…._

"One of the good guys," I replied quickly. I bet the girl could see through the lie instantly because she tried to wriggle out of my hand.

"I want my Mommy!" she cried.

"Shut up, and stick with me if you wanna get outta here alive," I spat. I could hear the robot catching up, wrecking whatever it came into contact with. Five minutes. I just needed to survive for five minutes before those flying traffic lights showed up. I looked around frantically, finally spotting a store full of cheap, tacky clothing. I was sure that if I stepped in there, I would lose IQ points and my sense of fashion would be permanently tarnished. I swallowed my pride and dived right in.

You know, considering that the robot was destroying _everything_ , maybe hiding was not the best idea. Maybe I should have kept running until I escaped. But unless you know how to outrun a robot that travels ten feet with each step, you can't judge me for trying to hide. You _can_ judge me for trying to hide in a closet though.

I pulled the kid close to me and dived into the dressing room, shutting the door behind me.

"Where's Mommy?" the child demanded.

"You'll never find out if you get killed," I replied, "so shut it!" Yes, that was a stupid thing to tell a freaked out five year old. At first she didn't understand what I'd said. Then she heard the thud of the giant robot coming near, still 'twanging' everything it found with its laser beams. She started to tear up. "No, no, wait, don't cry, please don't-"

"I want my Mommy! Mommy! _Mommyyyyy!_ " Did I regret? Yes. Yes, I regretted a lot. I regretted not covering her mouth soon enough so she would stop screaming. I regretted not thinking of another way to shut her up other than trying to bribe her with wads of cash. I regretted the fact that when I _did_ cover her mouth she bit my palm, and I still kept holding on because I was _that_ scared. I regretted those few moments of dread when the destruction stopped. I regretted hiding in a stupid store when it ripped the front of the room off with its bare hands. I regretted it when it simply slammed its hand on the ground, shaking the whole room and knocking the closet over, spilling us out on the ground. I regretted not thinking of a plan to last the remaining three minutes as its hand stretched out towards me.

What did I _not_ regret? Well, I felt _glad_ when I finally saw the robot get slammed halfway across the mall, skidding on the floor before it crashed into the escalators, but that was immediately replaced with regret, and even anger, at being glad about the arrival of the Powerpuff Girls.

A satisfied gleam was in Buttercup's eyes as she shook out her wrist, admiring her own handiwork as the robot clumsily tried to get back up, even with its damaged _everything_. She was already winding up her arm, preparing for round two. She come in her trademark colours of green and black.

"Buttercup, be careful!" Blossom said as she flew down from one of the holes in the roof, also in a matching outfit. "You'll destroy the whole mall!"

"Oh relax, they'll just fix it again," Buttercup said. "Besides, as long as we beat up the bad guys they'll love us anyway!" Blossom shrugged her shoulders.

"Irresponsible but true. If we don't stop this guy there won't even _be_ a mall to complain about."

"So let's just do this so we can get back home," Bubbles said. "It's the season finale of Friendship is Magic today and I don't wanna miss it!"

"That's your motivation?" Buttercup asked incredulously. "Watching _My Little Pony_? Wow, and I thought _I_ had dumb reasons for fighting!" Bubbles' face was turning bright red as she glared at Buttercup.

"My Little Pony is the greatest! You would understand if you actually watched it!"

"I'm not going to watch a show where the main character is a talking horse. Ooh, see what I did there? The _mane_ character, get it?"

"Guys, we have bigger problems right now." As soon as Blossom spoke, the other two remembered that they were fighting a giant killer robot, and that it was aiming its arm at them. They all scattered as it fired, it's fist flying towards them like a rocket. It slammed into the floor, the ground exploding in giant slabs of cement and piping before the fist flew back to the robot, attracted to its open arm like a magnet as it reattached itself.

Buttercup roared as she flew towards it, punching it in the face again, the robot flipping as it landed on the floor with a crash. Bubbles flew over to its foot, wrapping her arms around it as she tossed it across the mall. It took me half a second to realise that it was heading for us.

I wrapped my arms around the girl, shielding her with my body as much as I could, my eyes screwed shut. Instead of getting flattened though, I heard the crunch of metal, like somebody was crushing a giant tin can. I opened my eyes again and saw Blossom hovering just a few feet in front of us, holding the robot with one hand, her arm buried deep in its back.

"Princess? Is that you?" she asked.

"Blossom?" I gasped, releasing the breath I didn't even know I was holding. I was sure that she was nowhere near the robot just a second ago. My confusion turned to anger, and then rage. "You could have killed us! Be careful up there!"

"We are being careful! What are you even doing here?"

"Trying not to die! Get yourself and that robot out of here before I get mad!" Blossom rolled her eyes, ripping her arm out of the robot. It didn't even have time to react, because she kicked it like a soccer ball back to Bubbles, who then slapped it with both her hands like it was a volleyball. The three of them kept knocking it around like it was a game, barely noticing as it destroyed even more of the mall.

"Okay guys, time to wrap this up," Blossom said.

"Got it," Buttercup said, an evil grin on her face. She held her arms out to her side and began to twirl like some kind of angry spinning top. In just a few moments, there was a giant green tornado whirling around her, sucking everything around her into it. I could feel it pulling my whole body like it was a giant black hole. A few more seconds and I would have turned a human kite, but Bubbles stepped in front of us just before we could fly off.

"Don't worry, I've got you," Bubbles said in her irritatingly cutesy voice. The little girl's eyes lit up like little sparklers, although I couldn't imagine why. As adorable as she was, Bubbles was probably as bad for our health as the giant robot. She clenched her fist and slammed it into the ground, a blue dome or (you guessed it), 'bubble' surrounding us. I could still feel wind from the tornado, but it wasn't as bad anymore.

The robot wasn't so lucky though. Blossom gave it an uppercut that sent it spiralling through the air, right into the tornado. It didn't even last ten seconds before it got shredded to pieces. What was left of the robot flew into the air, scattering amongst the clouds. The tornado died out, Buttercup hovering close to the ground as she slowed down, coming to a dizzy stop as she sat down on the floor.

"Bubbles, now!" Blossom yelled. Bubbles flew outside, and together with Blossom, intense red rays of heat came out of their eyes, shooting towards what remained of their enemy. It was like watching giant silver and red fireworks going off in the sky as they blew up into a million different pieces, melting and dissipating in mid—air before they could hit the ground and hurt anybody.

The two sisters slowly dropped to the ground, Bubbles picking a still dizzy Buttercup up off the ground. Cheers erupted all around us as Bubbles' dome bubble disappeared.

Apparently, more people were still hiding than I thought, and a bunch more were flooding back into the mall, cheering on their 'heroes' who saved the day and wrecked the mall. The little girl who I had been protecting looked completely star struck, as if I hadn't saved her life too, _twice_ if you included hiding in the closet. And then the girl's mother appeared.

I guess it was a pretty weird sight to see your teary eyed daughter having her mouth covered by this strange, beat up looking girl holding a wad of cash. I guess it was a terrible first impression to make, but I didn't think it justified the lady crying "my baby!" and snatching the child away, glaring daggers at me the whole time.

"Penelope, what happened? Are you hurt? That girl didn't hurt you, did she?" the mother doted.

Ouch. It's not like I _saved_ your daughter or anything. And you know what else? 'Penelope' didn't even back me up! She just beamed at her and pointed up at the Powerpuff Girls who were now hovering a in the air.

"The Powerpuff Girls saved me!" she said, proudly and everything. The Power… _What?_ Sure, they beat the bad guy, but they nearly killed us too! And just like I saved her twice, they nearly _killed_ us… _twice!_ And they were just flying in the air, waving at everyone with their smug grins, saying insincere thanks and something like 'couldn't have done it without you'…. The people didn't even do anything!

If that was all, then fine. I could deal with that. It was normal for the Powerpuff Girls to come through and save the day by destroying thousands of dollars of equipment and infrastructure. It was so common that there was even insurance covering 'damage by PPG'. And as much as it annoyed me when I looked at the state of the mall after they appeared, it was still a thousand times better than what would have happened if they let the robot do its own thing. But no, that _wasn't_ the end of it!

Blossom looked _right at me_. Right into my eyes, and a smile spread on her face.

"You know, Princess, you should really be more careful. You could get hurt, you know? Leave the heroics to the professionals."

"I… _what_?" Okay, so _maybe_ she didn't tell me to leave it to 'the professionals', but that's what she was thinking! There's nothing else it could have been with that annoying smile on her face! And why else would Buttercup be laughing, or Bubbles looking at me like she was silently trying to apologise? No, I was _sure_ she said that, and even if she _didn't_ , why was she getting all the praise for blowing up half the mall? Did she know how much time it would take to fix it? Or how much _money_? Did they even volunteer to help clean up, look for missing people, or repair the mall with their super strength? No. Of course not. They just flew away, like they _always_ did, still being hailed as 'heroes' or something. I even heard one over obsessed fan shout 'I love you Blossom!' It could have been that snot nosed brat's mom, who knows?

I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth in frustration. My whole body was trembling like it was going to fall apart at any moment. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to _hate_ the Powerpuff Girls and everything they stood for. I wanted to show them, to teach them a lesson. I wanted them to understand that they _weren't_ the perfect, untouchable idols they thought they were. They weren't heroes, they were just stupid looking mascots that the city worshipped to feel safe. Even _that_ might have been too nice for them!

Saffron found me long after everyone else had left, still standing in the same spot, my eyes fixed on the ground in front of my feet, muttering to myself.

"Uhh, Princess?" she asked. "Are you okay? You said you would catch up, but I didn't find you afterwards. I was worried. Are… are you feeling alright?"

"I'll show those Powerpuff Girls. I'll show them once and for all who's the boss. I'll get rid of the Powerpuff Girls one way or another, even if it kills me to do it!"

* * *

 **A.N: So, this is the first chapter of my first Powerpuff Girls fic! This is a little outside what I'm used to but it was a lot of fun! I'll be updating this every Friday unless something cataclysmic happens that prevents that, so read and review! I really appreciate the comments. I reply to every single one, no exceptions, if not by PM then within the next chapter. So tell me what you think, whether you liked it or not and what can be improved. So see you all next week!**


	2. A TUB OF JELLY GOES TO THE GYM

**Yay! Thanks for the reviews guys! They really do boost my confidence. I'm always a little nervous writing this one because PPG is awesome and I wanna do it justice! Anyway, I think I've already replied to reviews, except that one guest review because… yeah, guest review, no PM button.**

 **To Charisma: Indeed, she is selfish and greedy and spoilt rotten! After all, her name is Morbucks! And I didn't want to take that away from her as it's important to her character! Of course, I don't think it's impossible even for somebody like this to change for the better (that's actually why I aged them all up a bit. Character development takes time, and as much as I love Princess as a character, there's no** _ **way**_ **I could make kid Princess a likeable main character! Oh, and yes, this** _ **is**_ **set in the future of the original series, not an alternate universe). It just takes time, and maybe a little love she might not have experienced. That said, I'll have to disagree with you on the 'can't do anything' part. As a five year old with no experience, she one shot KO'd Bubbles, and beat Buttercup in two shots! Suit or not, that's pretty impressive! Then there's the fact that she's been kicked in the face by the Rowdyruff Boys and barely been scratched, and devised an entire plan to destroy them with Anti-Chemical X weaponry (it didn't quite work, but it** _ **did**_ **incapacitate them after Blossom revised the plan).**

 **And this was when she was five! She's clearly got** _ **loads**_ **of potential as a capable hero (or villain), but is held back by the fact that she's a brat and really mean! So think of this story as a way to see Princess grow up, although I'm not telling about whether it's for better or worse. You'll just have to read and find out!**

 **Anyway, I've stalled long enough. Here's the story!**

 **CHAPTER 2: A TUB OF JELLY GOES TO THE GYM**

I was pretty sure the whole house knew that I had arrived. That doesn't really sound impressive since the only people inside were me, the maid, and the butler, but maybe that's just because you've never been to my house before. The place is so big that you could probably drive a tank into some rooms. But I stormed in, my hair a complete mess and my clothes shredded from my run in with Iron Man's big brother earlier in the day. I slammed open and shut every door I encountered, even the massive living room doors that were the size of a truck, and stomped, grumbled and roared everywhere I went. I wouldn't be surprised if I had alerted half of Townsville actually.

Finally, I shoved open the doors to my bedroom. The wall was painted maroon, and the carpet a deep purple. Daddy said that it was a Persian rug but I didn't believe him. _Everybody_ said their rugs were Persian if they wanted to seem fancier than they actually were.

I completely ignored the giant arch shaped windows, the dozens of stuffed animals scattered around the room, and the expensive looking pink cabinets near the walls, although it was a bit harder to ignore my bed. It was queen sized and placed atop a big multi-tiered pedestal. Even now it looked like it could swallow me whole if I wasn't careful. I _really_ wanted to just collapse on it. I felt tired and bruised and too beaten down to do anything but sleep. But the anger building inside wouldn't let me. So instead, I went to my bookcase.

I used to wonder why I even _had_ a bookcase. It's not like I read a lot of books. But I learned a tip from this other weird red haired Russian kid who I met on a school field trip. Apparently, bookcases make excellent hidden hiding places, so this absurd relic from the Stone Age was now useful!

I pulled out a copy of _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_ , and suddenly, the whole bookcase started to tremble, groaning like it was coming to life. The bookcase slowly spun on its axis, disappearing into the wall and getting replaced by a big glass case. Inside was my old friend, the familiar look of power and strength stitched into it. The _Fibre-o-tomic-omic_ , the one thing that let me face up to the Powerpuff Girls as an equal, and not just another brat. The best that money could buy.

Although even years later I still missed the golden upgrade for it that the Powerpuffs destroyed, I had this one upgraded too after its last resize, and its colour scheme was to _die_ for. It was a yellow blouse with a big black horizontal stripe around the stomach, and a golden yellow skirt. It used to just be one dress, but it was a lot easier to move while wearing shorts or a skirt. Along with it were pure white leggings and a pair of black boots and white gloves. At first glance, it just looked like a fancy Powerpuff cosplay party getup, but I knew better. That fabric was woven with all sorts of nano-machines and other fancy sounding stuff that could make it stop even bullets if it had to, and the boots and gloves could emit electricity with a mere thought. And then there were the suits most stunning features.

There was a giant pair of golden wings on a big shiny golden backpack that could fold away to hide them at any moment. A jetpack to put it simply. Pure military grade hardware that could move at Mach… how fast could it move again? I dunno, but it's _really_ fast! And then an accessory fit only for a princess: the golden tiara that was the cream on the cake, a ruby red jewel right in the middle.

I could feel the smile on my face spreading so wide that my cheeks felt like they were going to tear. I couldn't help myself! I hadn't used it for almost four years now, and to be honest, I was terrified that it wouldn't fit anymore. If that happened, I'd have to ask Daddy to get somebody to resize it…. Wait… why should I have to get help for _my_ suit?

It was _mine_ , and nobody else's! If I wanted to beat the Powerpuffs, then I had to be strong enough to do it myself! Nobody was going to even _look_ at it without my permission! I was just about to open the glass case that it was behind when I heard the beeping sound of my phone, still on my bed since I'd forgotten it at home. I clenched my fist into a ball of pure malevolent wrath. If whoever was disturbing me was an employee then I was docking their pay for eternity.

I marched towards it and saw the name on the screen. I forced myself to suck in all of my anger. It was just Saffron.

"What do you want," I muttered.

"Sorry about today," she apologised. "I know that we were meant to go shopping together, but things kind of got… messy, and I left our bags at the food court too. I couldn't find them afterwards either. I tried looking but…."

"Stop wasting my time." The phone was silent for a moment when I realised that she was shocked, maybe even hurt. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "How were _you_ meant to know that a giant robot would attack Townsville? And the bags? I can always buy ten times more stuff next time."

"Oh. Oh, okay! What a relief, I thought you were going to throw a tantrum or something!"

"What do you mean by that?! Do I look like I would lose my composure that easily?!"

"Is that a trick question?"

"I have the grace and elegance of royalty, and I have to keep calm and poised at all times."

"This is some elaborate pun, right? Or foreshadowing to something stupid you're going to do? That's the only way I can take what you just said seriously."

"Haha. Very funny. You know I can fire you, right?"

"That's okay. It was 'volunteer' work anyway. So you're not mad or anything?"

"No no, I'm already over it. In fact… You're free tomorrow, right? Meet me at the park at… whatever time is most convenient for me."

"Wait, Princess, how am I meant to know when-" I hung up. She would know when. After all, she was my henchman!

Destroying the Powerpuff Girls would have to wait. For now, I couldn't even beat up the Amoeba boys. I was tired, angry, and in need of a shower. Putting off everything for the rest of my day, I just left my revenge to fester in my dreams, waiting for the chance that I could finally show them up.

* * *

What could I say? I looked downright fabulous without even trying! The outfit was a tight squeeze, but the _fibre-o-tomic-omic_ was just as wonderful as ever. I was flying just above the city at Mach two, buildings disappearing behind me in a great big blur, colours blending together like somebody was mixing the world up in a giant easel. The jetpack was pretty noisy, and felt warm to the touch, but as long as I didn't touch the flames burning from the exhausts, I was safe. More than that, I looked glamorous!

I did a pirouette with a parakeet, the bird making a startled squawk as I flew right past it, twirling through the air and doing somersaults and loop-de-loops that would make the Swan Princess look at me green eyed with envy. I wasn't sure how long I was in the sky for, but when I looked down at the park I could see a familiar looking blue parka. From hundreds of feet in the air, I wouldn't have even noticed, but I was wearing a special set of contact lenses connected directly to my suit. As long as I knew what I was looking for, I had the eyes of an eagle, complete with a reticule and a recommendation of how many thousand volts I would need to vaporise my target.

Since I wouldn't be doing any vaporising… yet… I decided to head for the ground. I flew straight towards it, my fists extended in front of me like superheroes from those comic books that I totally never read. The girl in the parka was sitting on the bench, and she looked pretty bored as she checked her watch. It looked like she was about to get up and go, but I guess she must have noticed my shadow because she looked up and staggered backwards in alarm, stumbling over her chair.

If she was shocked, she should have put herself in _my_ shoes! I'd forgotten how to slow down, and I was heading straight for the ground at Mach too-fast-to-survive. I waved my limbs everywhere, desperately trying to find something, _anything_ to grab into. I saw a lake and figured that it had to be better than slamming into the dirt, changing my course towards it. I tried turning around so my jetpack would try to blast me up. It helped a lot, I wasn't travelling as fast anymore, but the water was still rushing up to greet me _way_ too quickly….

I slammed into the water, and it felt like somebody was punching me in the lungs. Not the chest, the _lungs_ , their fist phasing through my body and slapping the air out of me. Murky water and bubbles covered my vision, and the already grimy water started to get dimmer and dimmer. I was about to black out, but I shook myself out of it. If I passed out there, I was definitely going to die. I was too pretty to die!

I clawed my way back up to where I thought the surface was, and was surprised when I actually found it, resurfacing with panicked splashing, the sunlight shocking my eyes as it came into view.

Saffron was standing at the bank, wearing the big blue parka I had so graciously gotten her one day.

"The great Princess Morbucks has finally arrived!" I gasped, then, in a not so great fashion, doubled over coughing out big globs of water. Saffron rushed over to me, rubbing my back and offering me random words of encouragement. This was _not_ how I thought my day would start. This was _not_ fabulous at all. I cringed in horror as I thought of all the shrinkage my hair would go through after getting soaked.

When I had straightened up and recovered, I tried to remedy the situation, standing up straight with my fists on my hips and a big smile on my face.

"Princess… what are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm finally going to destroy the Powerpuff Girls once and for all! So for that, I've pulled the _fibre-o-tomic-_ "

"Yeah, I know about your weirdly named suit, but you're trying to fight the Powerpuffs _again_? I thought you gave all that stuff up?"

"What are you talking about? Princess Morbucks _never_ gives up!"

"Yeah, she never gives up an addiction I see. You've relapsed!"

"Stop talking about my dreams like they're drugs!"

"'Dreams like Drugs'… drug dreams? Ooh, I like the alliteration on that one! Gotta remember that…." I rolled my eyes. She wasn't writing it down, so she was going to forget.

"Ignoring your weird hobbies…." She gave me such an accusing look that I almost stopped right there. But I already mentioned something about not giving up, so I carried on. "Sure, I stopped trying to blow them up with lasers and missiles and giant weapons, but I never gave up trying to _beat_ them. You've seen me at school!"

"Yeah, trying to humiliate them wherever possible, bribing their friends to your side, spreading rumours, beating them in tests… you came pretty close with our last math test, right? Blossom got ninety-eight percent and you got ninety-six, right?" I wanted to add that the only reason I got less than her was because I wrote an improper fraction for question nine. My answer was technically right, and Blossom wrote one too but _she_ didn't lose the mark! But if I wanted to list how many times those brats were favoured, I would be there forever.

"You see, _beating_ the Powerpuff Girls doesn't mean beating them _up_ , although it's been a long time since I've had the chance to do that…."

"But you said _destroy_. That definitely sounds like a relapse."

"But that doesn't mean missiles and rockets are gonna work! It would be child's play for someone like me to destroy the Powerpuff Girls, but it would take trillions of dollars and a lot of time, and I just don't have that kind of patience. So instead, I'll destroy them mentally. I'll destroy their will to be heroes! I'll break down everything that it means to be a Powerpuff Girl! I'll make them feel so small, so helpless, so… _useless_ , that they'll quit being Powerpuff Girls all by themselves! And the best part is, they can't even stop me!"

"Huh… make them quit on their own… I'm not sure if that's a good idea though, we live in _Townsville_. My parents said that before the Powerpuff Girls came, this place was a mess. You couldn't even walk outside without thinking you were going to get mugged." I couldn't help the massive smile that was stretching from ear to ear on my face. She'd stopped telling me to give up. She was actually _thinking_ about it. Even if she didn't admit it, she was hooked. All I had to do was reel her in.

"Don't worry my dear Watson," I tried in my best British accent, "I already have a contingency plan for that. Do I _ever_ tell you anything without a plan?"

"Well I would say no, but I bet that you make up most of your plans on the fly…."

"That doesn't make them any less brilliant." Saffron rolled her eyes.

"So then, what _is_ your grand plan? How are you going to get the Powerpuffs to go into super early retirement?" I felt giddy with excitement. _This_ was the moment I had been waiting for! The moment when I would reveal my grand master plan in front of everybody (well, just Saffron)! Normally this was when the Powerpuff Girls would stop me in the middle of my monologue, but this time, there was nobody to interrupt!

That is, nobody until I heard my wristwatch beeping angrily. I looked at it, a gold plated Michael Kors watch with a flashing red light on the side. If thunder had a face, then I'm pretty sure that right then and there, mine is what it would have looked like. Saffron seemed to catch on pretty quick too, looking at me with either concern or fear.

"Hey, Princess, what's wrong?" she asked.

"It's the hotline," I mumbled.

"Like… the Powerpuff hotline?"

"Yup. I programmed this to beep if there were two Powerpuff Girls signals going off at once, that way I could get to whichever one was furthest from them. Come on, I might as well just _show_ you how." Before she could protest, I grabbed her arm. I just thought _go up_ and my jetpack responded, kicking into life and letting me blast myself high into the sky, taking Saffron with me.

It was exhilarating! I couldn't believe that I let myself put all of this away. No feeling could possibly beat it! The sound and feel of the wind howling in your ears and through your hair, the sheer giddy feeling of near weightlessness, and then the sudden vertigo when you made a sharper than normal turn. And if you went high enough, it wasn't so much flying as it was gliding on air currents. I looked back at Saffron, expecting her to be having as much fun as I was, but she looked positively terrified, eyes wide and mouth hanging open aghast. She might have been screaming, but it was drowned out by the roar of my jetpack.

 _Maybe I should ease up a little, or put her down?_ I thought.

 _Eh, she'll be fine_ , I reasoned. Before I could get into another dizzying self-debate, I spotted a bank down below, surrounded by a bunch of police cars and cops pointing guns at the entrance. I was a little disappointed. The perimeter was completely on lock down. There was no way any ordinary criminal would be able to escape from there. I wouldn't even have to do anything. Actually, I was a little tempted to give a hand to whichever sad sap it was holding the bags of money in the bank, just to give them a bit of a fighting chance. Maybe if I blew up a few police cruisers, popped a tire off another and melted a few weapons. Yeah, that would do the trick….

And then the wall exploded.

I was expecting a rookie burglar, probably not done too much jail time, maybe with a few tattoos on their arms and a ski mask covering their face. Instead, I saw something that looked like… a slime? A blob? An amoeba boy?

Whatever it was, it was blue and looked like it had escaped from a giant bowl of jelly. It jiggled as it walked or crawled or whatever it is that jelly does. Once it stepped out of the bank, it drew itself together, twisting and contracting until it looked vaguely like a human, a big puddle oozing around its 'feet', getting bigger the more it oozed. Floating inside of its stomach was a big bag of money. I only hoped that this thing was somehow keeping it dry, or else I wasn't going to forgive it.

I stopped in mid-air, watching it from a safe distance.

"Princess, put me down!" Saffron screamed.

"I will if you'll just be quiet!" I snapped back. "I'm trying to watch this guy,"

"Stop right there!" a particularly brave looking cop yelled. "We've got you surrounded! Put your cytoplasm where we can see them!" The slime looked around at everyone. I guess something a little like a smile formed on its face, although it was hard to tell since it was just a slightly darker patch of bow shaped slime on its face.

"Oh really? I think it's _me_ who's got _you_ surrounded!" he said. His voice sounded like he was speaking through stagnant water. Yeah, I know, that doesn't make sense, but he was gurgling and croaky like he was some kind of frog mutant! It made sense in my head! The cop looked pretty annoyed, his brown bristly moustache twitching violently.

He open fired, and everybody else did the same. For a few seconds it almost looked like the slime was dancing as all the bullets hit him, shaking his body like a ragdoll, each thunderous crack of a bullet like a drum beat made of thunder. But when they stopped, he barely looked fazed. If anything, he was smiling even _wider_. Thanks to his translucent body, I could still see the bullets floating in his body, but it didn't look like they'd actually _done_ anything. In fact, they were actually sizzling, like they were getting dissolved inside him.

The first cop must have noticed that too, because he chucked a grenade instead. The slime stretched his hand out, catching the grenade in mid-air and hurling it back. All the cops scattered as it blew up next to a car, the whole vehicle going up in flames. A few cops were still shooting him, but by now it was pretty obvious that wasn't going to work.

"Well, this is looking pretty bad," I muttered to myself.

"Oh no," Saffron added.

"Well, it's their fault for trying to shoot _jelly_."

"Not that. Look." I followed Saffron's finger to the puddle around the slime's feet. It was much, _much_ bigger than the last time I'd seen it. In fact, it spread all the way to outside the police wall. The slime man in the middle was shrinking, but outside, his slime was a big wall… no… a _tsunami_ of jelly coming for them. The cops barely had any time to react before it reached them, washing over all of them and sending them sailing down the streets in a big jumble of police, cars, handguns and donuts. It was absolutely ridiculous! Here, Townsville's great protectors, the men and women who defended our town from evil every day, had been beaten by living custard.

Apparently the slime found it just as ridiculous as me, because when he (literally) pulled himself together he was cracking up, practically dying of laughter on the floor. If their plan was to incapacitate him with giggles, then it had definitely worked.

"That's my target," I said, all of my focus turned towards him.

"Wait, you want to _fight_ that?" Saffron yelled.

"Hold on tight, Saffron!" I dashed towards the ground, this time a little slower than before, landing gently in the middle of the road, dropping Saffron first and then hitting the pavement afterwards.

"Not so fast… umm… hired help, think of an appropriate heroic one liner, preferably one that's a pun."

"Uh lemme think…."

"Think faster henchman, he's noticed us already."

"Stop rushing me! I can't focus under pressure!"

"You're missing your deadlines, minion. Poor performance."

"I'm not your minion already!" The slime had approached us. It was standing barely five metres away. Great. The moment had passed.

"Princess Morbucks? Is that your fancy Powerpuff Girl suit?" he asked. "I've heard all about you! You were a real pro back in your heyday!"

"Don't talk to me like I'm an old lady," I growled. We hadn't even started and I already felt like throwing something.

"Whatever you say lil' miss," he… slimed…. I'm sorry, I refused to acknowledge whatever this thing was as capable of human speech. It sounded like somebody dropped a vocaloid in mud! "Hey, you feel like helping me out with this load? I can't move that fast while carrying all this money…."

"Who said that I was going to help you out?" I asked.

"Well… you're a villain, right? It's what you villain types do. Rob banks, steal diamonds."

"Don't lump me in with _your_ lot!" I yelled. "You and I are _not_ the same. _I_ am a villain! A beautiful, glamorous, and charming and villain at that! _You're_ nothing but a lowlife criminal!"

"Well… well fine then! Just leave me alone and I'll carry on!"

"Not so fast! This bank is one that my daddy has a _lot_ of interest in, so it's my responsibility to make sure that you don't get away with this!"

"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna-" I dashed after him using my jetpack to give me that extra burst of speed I needed, slamming my fist into his stomach. He blasted into a thousand different pieces, his bag of money flying backwards and rolling neatly next to a fire hydrant. A crowd of onlookers had gathered at the edge of the bank, watching with wide eyes. I smiled. A crowd was there to witness my spectacular victory over the forces of grossness! My finishing blow with a single! Punch! Except none of them were cheering….

"Ah!" I screamed as I felt myself getting turned upside down and pulled into the air by my ankle. The jelly monster was regrouping itself in front of me, but since I couldn't really see what was carrying me, I could only guess that it still had an arm or tendril or something else disgusting behind me, picking me up. My whole body got tossed through the air, slamming into the bank with a painful crunch. Spots filled my eyes, and my back was shooting with pain, but I shook it away as I peeled myself from the wall.

"My oh my, that caught me by surprise!" he gurgled. "But if that's the best that you can do, this fight is already over!" He launched his stretchy arms at me, thrashing the ground around me rapidly like they were whips. I dived, leaped, ducked and weaved through them all, barely escaping each blow within a hair's breath. Both arms were about to slam into my head when I grabbed them both, now bundled together.

"Cool it Indiana Jones!" I yelled, pulling at them to drag him closer to me. If one punch didn't do the trick, I would just have to vaporise him altogether!

"Not good enough!" His arms practically turned into water, slipping through my fingers and reappearing, now around my whole body like a giant snake. It began to tighten, squeezing the air and the life out of me. I took back what I said earlier: I _really_ wished I just had to deal with an ordinary crook. "Quit wasting my time, kid! You're messing up my schedule! If I don't hurry up, then those girls…."

Okay, I know what I said about keeping calm at all times, but I was _not_ going to just sit back while he was talking about the Powerpuff Girls right in front of my face! Didn't he know that I was a _much_ bigger threat than any of them could ever be?

With a roar, I tried forcing my way out, my arms pushing against his slime. It didn't do a whole lot, but it was just enough space to give my jetpack some breathing room to open up again, just a little. I started it up, blasting the slime around me to nothing as I shot into the air.

"Ah! My arms!" he cried, then proceeded to regrow them with an irritating grin. "Just kidding!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" I roared, my gloves charging with electricity. I held them in front of me, firing giant balls of energy, arcs of electricity lashing out from them. A lot of them missed, but the ones that were on target were either dodged as the slime moved himself out of the way, or blocked as he picked up objects and shielded himself with them. I was getting angrier and angrier with each passing moment.

"Why isn't anything _working_?! It's not fair, it's just not fair!" I charged up two massive bundles of lightning in my hands. If I couldn't hit him directly, then I would just blow up the whole city block, taking him with it! I was just about to throw it when I noticed Saffron, yelling something excitedly.

"Don't get in my way!" I screamed at her. I was wondering how she would look with a million volts of electricity coursing through her parka.

"Princess! The hydrants!"

"Saffron, what are you talking about?" She was pointing excitedly at a fire hydrant. It looked a little bit dented. Suddenly, it all clicked in my brilliant mind, an evil grin spreading on my face.

I turned off the electricity, charging straight for the slime. As expected, it slapped me in the face, smacking me straight to the ground, dragging through the dirt and concrete and unbuckling all of the paving stones before I came to a halt in front of the fire hydrant. My head was spinning, but it wasn't too bad. The suit was protecting me from most of the damage. And even if I _didn't_ have it, I'd taken punches that knocked my milk teeth out from the Powerpuffs before. His hits were a joke.

"Wow that was absolutely priceless!" The jelly guy laughed. "And here I was actually starting to get worried! But no, you fight like an amateur!"

 _That's right you tub of lard, keep on shuffling closer. Just a little bit more…._

He raised his arm, shaping his hand like a giant hammer. If that was the same blow he used to blast a hole in the bank, then I did _not_ want to get hit by it. Luckily, it also left him completely open. He'd drawn in all of his slime to that weapon so he couldn't use it to block, and his stomach was open.

I pulled out a bladed tiara from behind my normal one, slicing open the part of the fire hydrant that was facing him, rolling out of the way as I did so. A jet of water strong enough to break down concrete slammed into him, drowning him out as he frantically tried to block it with his hammer.

"What are you doi-blargh!" His mouth got covered by a giant stream of water that nearly tore his head off. Water wasn't going to do anything on its own, especially since he was _made_ of the stuff. But if I charged it with electricity then that was another thing. Sparks danced between my fingers like playful little fairies as I put my hand on top of the hydrant. I charged it with a thousand volts of pure awesomeness, and watched the light show. The hydrant looked more like it was blasting lightning than water, and the slime was flashing neon blue, yellow, red, and then finally black as he collapsed into a very unhappy looking puddle.

I cut the fire hydrant's role as a fountain short as I crunched the opening close, welding it with a super-heated finger. I finally let go of it, my limbs feeling like whipped rubber. I spotted Saffron at the other side off the street, running towards me.

"All in a day's work," I said, exhaustion clear in my voice. She didn't seem to care though, practically tackling me to the ground as she gave me a hug, pinning me to the ground. "Owie owie, that hurts," I complained. She got up apologetically.

"That was totally awesome Princess!" she yelled. "You showed him a thing or two!"

"Yeah, I know, I totally rock."

"Oh yeah! I thought of one!"

"You thought of one what?"

She turned towards the charred puddle of our daily super villain, pointing an accusing finger at him

"That's what you get for 'mucking' around!" she said. I just stared at her. Then, I burst out into laughter. I couldn't help myself, it was just too much! She glowered at me. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, you thought of that _now_ after we're already done? And what was that? That line was terrible!"

"Hey, you asked for something a hero would say, you got it! By the way, since when were you a hero?"

"I'm not, this is all part of my plan," I replied with a smirk. Although I got why she was asking that now. The people in the bank were clapping and cheering and just generally making fools of themselves. To them, I must have looked like the good guy. In a way, I actually was I guess. Perfect.

"You see, there's three Powerpuffs, but only one of me, so I can't beat them in a fight. But, I _can_ beat them at their own game. I'm naturally smarter, stronger, more charismatic, and _far_ more glamorous than them, so even though I can't fight them, I _can_ be a _much_ better hero than they'll ever be! I can save Townsville _and_ look pretty doing it! Soon, everybody will realise how much better I am, and they'll stop worshipping them and start worshipping _me!_ The Powerpuffs will be out of a job, and I'll have all of their fame and attention to myself! _I'll_ become the new Powerpuff Girl! No… I'll be _better_ than them! It's flawless!"

I don't think Saffron quite believed me. Not sure if it was the exasperated facial expression or the face palm that gave it away. I didn't care. I felt _great!_ I hadn't felt this good since Daddy bought all of Townsville for me that one time!

"So… you're a hero?"

"No, I'm a villain! I'm trying to put the heroes out of business!"

"By… doing hero work. Okay, marvellous plan."

"Glad you see it my way, Jeeves!"

"Jee-wha… you know what, fine. Hey, what's that?" I looked where she was pointing. I could make out an armada of police cars, and with the help of my contacts, a helicopter flying in the distance. They looked pretty mad….

"Hands where I can see them!" One off them yelled with a bullhorn, even drowning out the sound of their sirens. "Don't move or we _will_ use lethal force!" The blood drained from my face.

"Wait, I didn't do anything," I muttered nervously. I didn't mind fighting bad guys, but my plan would fail if I beat up the cops too.

"They don't know that," Saffron said. "It doesn't help that you're sitting on top of the bag of money." I looked down, and sure enough, it was right there. I suddenly remembered that this was where it landed right at the start of the fight. If the cops found me right now… and after them would most likely be my worst enemies, ready to punch first and never ask questions. I couldn't tell if my face was ghostly pale or lime green.

I grabbed Saffron and picked her up in my arms, a little bit like a knight carrying a princess, and blasted off into the sky, Saffron's arms practically strangling my neck as she struggled to hold on. It looked like it was going to take a _long_ time before anybody got used to _Princess Morbucks: Hero of Townsville_ ….

* * *

 **AN: I'm serious when I say I appreciate all the feedback, so I'll normally put dedications or recommendations at the end of the story. If you don't feel like reading this, I'll just underline the author (if they have a fic) and story name so you can search for them 'cause they could be fun! Anyway….**

 **Thanks for the favourites and follows! I'm glad people are enjoying this! For follows and favourites, thank you** **Mattardis** **(Dudes, go check out his fanfic! I haven't gotten around to everything else yet, but his fic '** **Mattardis's fan made Death battles'** **is fun! The first one I saw was actually Princess versus Bowser Junior and it was super darn cool! I'm guessing his other fics are also really cool if they're at the same quality so tell me what you guys think!), and Coconut Cat is real (why does everybody have such cooler usernames than mine? No fair!)**

 **For just Favourites, thank you** **ICantThinkofanOriginalName** **(who, ironically, has an original name because of it…. Are you a fan of colour pairing fics? You know, Puff and Ruff? I'm not, but this one was actually pretty good, with a slightly different take to it! Go check out** **'Unexpected'** **if you wanna read one that's actually** _ **good**_ **! It should be fun!) LukaTheFanboy (Fanboy/girl/whatever power, unite) and** **Orlder** **(He's got this really silly Mario fic called** **'Mawio'** **that's kinda silly and satirical and just a lot of fun! I dunno, I liked it! He did say he wrote it ages ago just for fun, but if you feel like chuckling then it could be a great read just to see the madness at work!) I really appreciate it!**

 **For just the follow, thanks Unknown494 (remain in the shadows, and lurk for JUSTICE!) These really do make my day! Anyway, I'll see you guys all next week, hopefully with another awesome chapter!**


	3. BIG SISTER'S WATCHING YOU

**Yeah, I normally only update on Friday's but I guess I got a little ahead of myself this time and I posted a chapter early! That doesn't mean I won't post on Friday though, so don't worry! Anyways, to the guest reviews!**

 **mlpgirl 1998: Thank you for the very enthusiastic reviews! I'm _guessing_ you're the same person who reviewed like, five times or something? In which case, I've already replied so I'll keep it short, but I won't give away who does or doesn't appear in this story so you'll have to wait and see! As for your recommendation, I'll check it out at some point when I've got the time!**

 **Guest (the other one): I'm glad you like Saffron's character! I was actually pretty wishy-washy with which way I wanted her character to go until recently, so I'm glad she's enjoyable! As for pairings, pair away! Do as you wish! I'm not really a strong shipper myself. Not that I won't pair and ship characters ever (heck, my old Medabots story had loads, and my Percy Jackson one has shown hints too) but I focus on everything else first. I'm not great with these mythical things called 'feelings' in real life so transferring them to writing is hard!**

 **That said, I really like strange quirky pairings and I'm not gonna give anything away until you read it so who knows _what_ might happen?**

 **Anyway, I'm talking (typing?) too much. Here's the story!**

 **CHAPTER 3: BIG SISTER'S WATCHING YOU**

Were clock makers evil? They had to be. There was no other explanation for why the clock in our classroom staggered through the day like it was drunk. We were probably in school for an extra hour with the way it casually moseyed towards the end of the day. Whatever our teacher was talking about probably wasn't important, because the only person who still looked like they were paying any attention was Blossom, and even _she_ looked like she was about to nod off. I'd grown tired of staring at a blank wall (curse you Buttercup for taking the last window seat….) and instead looked towards the middle of the classroom.

Somewhere behind me was Saffron, probably with her head propped up and resting on her hands, but sound asleep. In front of me was Blossom, and Bubbles would have been next to her if she was in school that day. To my left was a girl who seemed to think that extra super thick Harry Potter glasses were in, and hair neatly done up in bunches. She _looked_ like she was taking notes, but I knew that she was drawing little doodles and ugly sketches, and tugged somewhere within her textbook was a magazine or comic book or something. Behind her were my satellites.

These wannabes seemed to think I was their friend, and followed me around everywhere in order to make themselves look better. It kind of annoyed me that it actually worked. I guess the common plebes couldn't tell the difference between imitations like them and _real_ class, like myself. I couldn't even remember their names really. I knew one of them was called Lisa, the other one was… Lola? Yeah, something like that. Or maybe the other way around? Anyway, it didn't matter. Both had the same stupid blond pigtails as Bubbles, matching blue and pink boy band branded t-shirts, and white skirts. They probably came in the same packet at the mall.

Anyway, they were eyeing the girl in front of them, snickering every now and then.

"Lisa, Lindsey, pay attention!" the teacher yelled, slapping her ruler against the blackboard.

"Yes Ms. Hartman," they apologised, but they didn't exactly sound apologetic. Ah, so her name was _Lindsey_. I made a mental note of it in my head that I would probably forget by recess. As soon as Ms. Hartman turned back to the blackboard, they started eyeing the girl in front of them again, whispering stuff between each other.

 _Well, sucks to be her I guess_. Before they could do anything diabolical, the school bell finally clamoured to life, freeing us from class. Ms. Hartman didn't even have time to dismiss us, because the whole classroom turned into a jungle. I could hear Saffron waking up behind me. In the one split second of peace I had, I turned my head and looked behind at Saffron. She'd jerked herself awake, and even though she probably didn't know what was happening, her body was already standing up out of sheer habit. We'd rehearsed this a thousand times, we already knew the plan. Using her chair like a springboard, she dived into the air. I was already stood up, aiming for the door with one arm while my other was ready to catch Saffron. She landed in my hand. Before her weight could flatten me, I chucked her like a dart.

She flew through the air, rolling as she hit the ground. I dashed out from behind my chair. I didn't have to worry as much, because like magnets, Louse and Lora appeared by my side, forming a protective wall around me, letting me sprint for the door unobstructed. I dived for it, rolling out and landing next to Saffron. Then the chaos started.

The door was practically jammed with excited kids all rushing for the playground, pushing and shoving each other for a bit of room. If we had been point zero seven seconds slower, we would have been trapped in that too.

I looked at Saffron, grins spreading on both of our faces.

"Excellent moves, underling," I said. "I'm almost impressed."

"That was cool enough to make me _almost_ forgive you for calling me your underling," Saffron replied. We both stood up and headed for the main entrance. "So, how's the superhero thing going for you?"

"Ugh, don't even talk to me about that," I groaned. "Besides, I'm not a _superhero_ , I'm just _pretending_ to be one. I thought we won't over it."

"Yes, of _course_ we did. We even listed some of your villainous acts and dastardly schemes like 'helping old ladies cross the street.' 'Renovating the youth centre,' and 'getting kittens out of trees'…. Geez Princess, even if you _were_ a hero, these are all pretty lame!"

"I don't have much of a choice! I can't go anywhere _near_ the big crimes while the Powerpuff Girls are around. Half of Townsville still thinks I'm going to kill them. You know that cat I rescued last week scratched me, right? And the kid who _owned_ the little monster kicked me in the shin! If that's what the _normal_ people do, what do you think will happen if I run into _those_ three horrors?"

"And that's why your watch only beeps when two things are happening at the same time?"

"Yup. I figure out which one is furthest from the girls, or lowest on their priorities, and go for that. Recently it's been pretty quiet though…." Saffron abruptly came to a halt. I looked at her in confusion. She wasn't paying attention to me anymore. I would have gotten mad at her, but then I saw where it had turned to instead.

Normally, Joy and Jenny would have caught up to me by now, bombarding me with a sea of broken text speak and cheap perfume. Instead, they were still hanging back, standing by the wall. Pressed between them and it was the little girl with the Harry Potter glasses. She was sweating so hard I was scared her glasses were going to slip off her face.

"Hey, what you got there squirt?" one of them asked, tugging at a magazine she was cradling between her hands. The same one she had in class.

"It-it's nothing you would f-find interesting," she stuttered, clutching it even tighter with one hand while the other adjusted her glasses.

"Really? Then that means you won't mind if we take a look," the other one demanded, pulling it harder. The more she tugged at it, the less the little girl felt like giving it up. Frustrated, she pulled even harder, the pages of the magazine threatening to tear while the other one pushed the kid back. She shoved her into the wall, the kid's grip loosening on the magazine as it flew out of her hands and into the clutches of the Lex and Lina. They scanned through the pages before their faces practically transformed, cheeks puffing up and eyes watering like they had swallowed a bucketful of chilly. Suddenly, they couldn't take it anymore, bursting out into laughter, even dropping the magazine. As it landed on the floor, I could just barely make out the title: _Droids and Drones: The Future is Here!_

I didn't really get what was so funny until I thought about it a little more. This wasn't like the time they found her reading _Shin Mazinger_ or some other mecha or sci-fi comic, this was more like finding her reading a robotics textbook outside of a classroom. As somebody who uses robotic power suits, I could respect the dedication to the topic. But it was just _so easy_. Just calling her a nerd or a dork wouldn't be good enough for this one.

"What the heck is this, Lindsey?" one of them asked.

"I know everybody's got hobbies, but _robots_?" Lindsey replied. "Geez Lisa, she's such a tomboy, huh?"

"No, this is _way_ too uncool, even for a tomboy!"

"Yeah, I know people who've got bad taste, but I didn't know you were into _robots_!"

"'Oh save me Han Solo, save me from the wrath of Darth Vader!'" Both girls broke into laughter. I kind of felt bad for the girl in the middle, not because she was being bullied, but she had to listen to people who thought that Han Solo was a robot. I mean, it's not like _I_ really knew much about him either, but come on, this is pop culture 101!

I'm not sure if she looked frustrated or irritated, but she _definitely_ looked scared, especially once they started tugging at her hair and pushing her around.

"Ow, ow, ow! Stop that, please!" she cried.

"This is just to teach you a lesson," Lisa (I think) said. "Don't bring this stuff to school and expect anybody to like you."

"Hey," Saffron said to me. "This is kinda lame. We should help out."

"Oh relax, they can handle the situation," I said, waving off her comment dismissively.

"I meant the girl, not your groupies!" she shot back.

"Oh. Not my problem."

"Wha… they're _your_ lackeys, you could tell them to stop right now!"

"And let the kid get bullied by somebody else who's even _worse_? No thanks."

"Don't try to make it sound like you're actually protecting them!"

"Fine then. How about this: the brat doesn't interest me enough for me to want to help."

"Well that's… a terrible excuse."

"Think about it. If I tell them to lay off, what then? She's just going to get picked on by somebody else, and she'll be expecting me to come swooping down on a golden chariot to save the day. _Then_ what will she have learnt when somebody's stolen her lunch money, or spread rumours about her all over school? That you can't count on _anybody_ to protect you, not even me. I'd rather not have to waste time to teach her that lesson, sacrificing the respect of my peers to do so, when she can learn that lesson herself." Saffron's fists were clenched and her teeth gritted. Instead of punching me, she marched up to the group. "I've told you, that's a bad idea!"

Of course, Saffron didn't listen to me. Instead, she chose to act as if she was some kind of hero of justice.

"Hey, the other airheads are that side. Get lost before we catch your stupidity."

 _Geez, she could have at_ least _thought of some cool line to say_ , I thought.

"Beat it, Saffron, this isn't your problem," Laureen said. I _really_ needed to learn their names.

"Well it's not this kid's either, so you should lay off." Their attention temporarily shifted, from their first target to Saffron. Saffron was pretty popular. She was liked and had friends, but I couldn't really picture her standing up to them. I figured it was time I intervened before my loyal servant got herself burned.

"Lisa, Lindsey, hurry up and let's go!" I shrieked.

"Coming! Just give us a second," one of them yelled. I actually got their names right! That made me feel good I guess.

"Time is money, and right now, you're wasting mine! So let's _go_!" I folded my arms and tapped my foot impatiently, a sure sign that I needed them to hurry. They looked at each other, then glared at Saffron before chasing after me. Ignoring them, I looked back at the scene of the crime. Saffron was still back there, picking up the girl's magazine for her. This was where we parted ways anyway. We didn't really mingle that much in school, apart from the occasional evil scheme. Glasses girl clutched her magazine, its pages scrunched up and shredded. I thought she was going to break into tears, but she just glared at us as we walked out and into the playground.

* * *

And that was the end of my day. I know, you were expecting there to be a bank robbery or an alien invasion or maybe the rapture, but some days are just… _ordinary_.

'But Princess,' you ask, 'how can somebody as glamorous and beautiful and charming as yourself have an ordinary day? Isn't every waking moment a magical adventure to you?'

Well, as much as I _love_ all the flattery you give me, I have to be truthful to the people who are so smitten with my life as to listen to all of my rambling! Compared to _your_ lives, simply travelling back home by limousine or flying off to London with Daddy might seem exciting, but for me, it is just another Tuesday. I'd _much_ rather be plotting how I was going to destroy the Powerpuff Girls, or fighting against the forces of unglamorous evil. But even if I didn't have all the responsibilities of the filthy rich, I did already say that the work of a hero was _hard_ , and I never received a word of thanks for my near perfect imitation of 'a heroine of justice'. I was scolded and sneered at, the police would shoot at me, and I didn't even _attempt_ to go near the Powerpuff Girls, who for some odd reason had chosen that specific month to actually be _diligent_ with their crime fighting. So you can imagine my surprise when I arrived at school a week later and heard that they weren't there.

I mean, can you _imagine_ it? I could picture Buttercup cutting class, and Bubbles hadn't even been crime fighting for two weeks, but _Blossom_? Honour role, one hundred percent attendance rate Blossom? Unthinkable!

Oh, and the school had been taken over by an angry megalomaniac.

What? Don't look at me like that. This is _Townsville_. Villains are practically _spawned_ here. Missing Powerpuff Girls are another matter altogether!

Anyway, the school looked like it had been converted into some kind of military boot camp. Thunderclouds seemed to gather over it, like they were having some kind of storm party. The bricks and cream paint had been replaced with muddy browns and camouflage greens. The fence was topped with barbed wire, and from the warning symbols on them, they must have been electric too. There were craters in the ground (now just dirt and soil, not concrete and grass), like somebody had been blowing up mines. I didn't want to think of what would happen if there were more.

And the speakers…. There was a giant set of three megaphones on top of the school building, but the speaker quality was so garbled and terrible and full of feedback that I couldn't even understand what they were saying, or if the voice was male or female. For all I knew, it could have been in another language. It created unnerving dystopian ambiance though.

In the middle of all this, while I was still staring slack jawed at the school, I realised that my driver was already leaving. I looked behind me at the dust left behind as he tore down the streets.

"W-wait! Don't leave just yet!" I cried. I did _not_ want to go to school if this was what I would be dealing with! Was this some kind of interactive history lesson or something? My driver had already gone too far away. He probably couldn't even see me through his rear view mirror. No problem then. I would just use my phone and call him! Yeah, the same phone… that I had left… in the seat of the car….

I was in for a long day….

* * *

I'd barely taken two steps down the hallway when I felt myself being yanked into an open classroom door. The door shut behind me and a hand covered my mouth, silencing me before I could scream. I bit down _hard_ on the hand. A stifled scream replied. I was about to spin around while my assailant lost their grip and knock them out, but just as I was raising my fist I saw who it was.

"Saffron?" I asked.

"Shut up!" she whispered urgently, pressing my against the wall just next to the door. She plastered herself next to me so we were crammed together in the corner of the room, and not a moment too soon. The door opened fully, the hinges on our side so the door opened up and covered us in the corner. I heard a sound like wheels or treads or something, and the whir of machinery, an occasional beep coming from it like it was emitting sonar waves.

" _No signs of life_ ," a mechanical voice said. The wheels receded away from us. I tiptoed towards the door and peered around it. Driving away was what looked like a tiny robot, about half my size and shaped like a dustbin, with a blue body and yellow… lid? Head? Something weird and dome shaped. I couldn't see what its face looked like since it was driving away on an adorable set of treads: two long ones on each side and one in the middle. It was a weird invention.

"Minion, status report," I said. No answer. "Minion, I said status report!"

"Members of the resistance only answer to their military rank," Saffron replied.

"The resistance? What are you talking about?"

"The anti-robot resistance of course! I'm a Commanding Officer!"

"Umm… okay, there's an anti-robot resistance? Is this a school club or something?"

"It would be if it wasn't mandatory. You're either under _her_ heel, or you're part of the resistance. So far, I'm the only one left still fighting. Everybody else is either hiding, or… stuck in _permanent detention_."

 _This isn't serious. This isn't happening. I'm still asleep and having the stupidest nightmare ever… right?_

"I've got a week left of rations left, but if we're careful we can make it last for two."

"Saffron, school hasn't even started yet, we're not even going to be here for more than a day! And _how is there a robot apocalypse already?!_ "

"I don't know, I just know they came! And they're all under the command of one person…." The school intercom system buzzed into life. For a moment, there was no sound, apart from the fuzzy sound of somebody tapping a microphone, echoing across the entire school.

" _Hello? Is this thing on?_ " a timid voice asked. " _Ahem… Students of Midway Middle School, long have you gone unpunished for your crimes against the weak and the helpless! For too long, us 'geeks', 'nobodies', and 'outcasts' have been looked at as second class! As inferior! We…._ " The voice paused for a second, the sound of pages turning being heard. " _Let's see… what word is that? Umm… we… we have been treated as puppets, dancing to your tune! But no longer, for I have answered your call! I shall strike back in the name of all those who are oppressed with my robot army, and take control of the school for a better, brighter future! Yes, you shall all bow before-_ " The sound of turning pages. And then frantic fluttering like she had dropped whatever she was reading from. A crash, and some panicked yelps later, and the voice returned. " _Just… I'm the boss now thanks to my robot army! Don't even think of looking for the grownups, I already tied them all up! Bullies beware, mwahahaha!_ "

"Great. Just great," I muttered. "This kid doesn't care about justice or whatever she was gabbing on about, she just wants to take out her anger. We can't let that happen." Saffron nodded her head.

"Right. The students are depending on us! Half of our class is two classrooms away, we can get supplies to them-"

"What? No, forget those guys! We've got to stop that maniac for what they did to my sweater! It's totally ruined thanks to the land mines I stepped on just getting here! I'll make her pay for this in blood!"

"Wait, that's your motivation? And you got hit by a land mine and you can still walk?"

"I think by five."

" _Five?!_ "

"This signal has to be coming from the Principals office," I said, ignoring her. "From there, announcements can be sent to the entire school."

"Wait, it could also be at the music department in the recording studio. The PA system's control panel is there, and it would explain how she's able to control all of these robots across the whole school. If she's not there, we can at least shut it down."

"Then we make our way there, then split up. You head for the recording studio, I head for the Principal's office."

"Right. You got your power suit?"

"Of course! It's right here in my bag." I took my backpack off and unzipped it, then stared into the void with grim faced horror.

"What? What's wrong?" Slowly, I looked up at Saffron.

"I forgot it…."

"Geez Princess, we're fighting _robots_! What are we gonna do without your powers?"

"We'll be stealthy. Follow my lead."

A career of robbing banks and breaking into jewellery stores had taught me how to be pretty stealthy when I needed to. Whenever a robot came by, I would hide behind a plant or inside a cupboard in a classroom. Once, we literally just plastered ourselves flat against the wall and stayed absolutely still. I guess whoever made them was a terrible programmer, because they didn't even notice us.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally reached the junction that led us to our separate ways. I looked at Saffron, and Saffron stared back.

"See you on the other side, minio… officer." Her massive beaming smile was almost enough to melt my own frigid heart.

"Yeah. Don't lose!"

"Please, Morbucks' don't lose!" We split up. It felt strange not having Saffron with me, but at least it meant I could move a lot quicker. She didn't really have the whole 'stealth' thing down. Maybe her fashion sense was just so terrible that the robots refused to acknowledge her, so to them she was invisible?

I was starting to really like my theory when I peered around a corner. At the end of the hall was a big wooden door with a golden doorknob and a plaque above it written 'Principal'. There were two drones guarding the door with goofy looking smiles drawn on their faces, with their tongues sticking out and giant cartoonish eyes. There were two cameras on top of their heads. They were holding oversized plastic rifles. They looked like toys, but something told me that getting shot by them would still be excruciating. I couldn't fight them head on. I had to separate them somehow, and find a weapon that could deal with them.

I pulled off my shoe. It wasn't very classy, but it would have to do. I chucked it at one of their heads and hid, taking my other shoe off and holding it like a gun. I didn't see it hit, but I heard the clang as it bounced off metal. I heard a few beeps and whirs, like they were debating whether they should check where the shoe came from, then the sound of their treads rolling across the ground. I waited patiently just around the corner, so no matter what happened, _I_ would see the robots before they saw me. The first one appeared around the corner. It was too easy. I just smacked it in the head, its entire head spinning until it was looking backwards. It spun around, looking for who had dislodged it. It finally spotted me, although its body was facing the other way now. I popped my head around it and waved at its partner with a smile so sweet it was diabetic. It freaked out. The first robot freaked out. Even _I_ freaked out a little. And then they all started firing, facing each other instead of me.

A bunch of wires shot out from the gun barrels, and arcing streams of electricity danced across the cables, frying each other with great flashes of blue light. Both robots lay still and unmoving, smoke coming off of their slightly charred frames. I peeled a gun off one of the robots and tried reloading, pulling a piece on the side back. The cables retracted with the sound of a recoiling spring, going back inside the gun and locking in place. It took about ten seconds so I had to make sure the first shot counted. I pulled off the second gun and looked at the door. Armed with two guns, the spirit of vengeance, and my shoes, now returned back to my feet where they belonged, I could take on anything.

I kicked open the door.

"Not so fast, you brat!" I roared. "It's over, just give up and I won't have to pummel you!"

"Wha-wha!" a girl cried. I stopped dead in my tracks, even lowering my weapons.

"You? You're the one behind this?"

The girl looked up at me, adjusting her far-too-thick glasses and straightening up her denim overalls. The same girl that Lei Lei and Lulu were bullying the other day. She was sitting at the Principal's desk, a laptop open and plugged into various sockets and extensions, including the mic on her desk. She peered at me, as if trying to make sure that what she was seeing was real, and I did the same thing.

This did _not_ seem like a mastermind who took over the school, although it explained all the blunders. She stood up to her full height (which wasn't very impressive).

"So, even in this brave new world, my greatest enemy is still Princess Morbucks," she said. The curtains were drawn shut, so the light from her desk lamp glared against her glasses, obscuring her eyes like a visor. "After all this time, the social order still stands I see…."

"Who cares about the social order? You've turned the whole school upside down, and you've ruined my morning!"

"And I'm supposed to care about _your_ morning?"

"Well duh, _I'm Princess_! Everybody cares about me!"

"Of course. The same way you 'cared' when you were watching your lackeys shake me down for my lunch money. Or the same way you 'cared' when they sabotaged my science projects. Or the same way you 'cared' when I got locked in the gym for four hours."

"You got locked in the gym?"

"In the middle of winter!"

"Pssht, it's not like _I_ was doing any of that. It doesn't matter to me."

"But it does! You were _always_ in a position to help, but you didn't! You've always got the power to stop this, but you're more than happy to let it go on as long as you still look good afterwards! Why would you just watch it happen?" I was _really_ starting to not like this kid. She was starting to hit a little too close to home. Yes, I just watched her get bullied, but she always had it coming. She was just a brat who couldn't do anything about it… until today of course.

Maybe I _was_ just judging her by her surface? If I paid attention, maybe I would have seen more grit and resourcefulness than I thought? Maybe I would have seen… the army of mini robots crawling out from behind the chair, under the desk, between trophy cabinets and through the air conditioning. I don't know how I missed them. There was literally an army growing right before my eyes!

These things looked a little bit like walking bombs, with windup keys spinning in their backs and glowing yellow eyes. I kicked about three of them backwards, but a few clung to my toes anyway, refusing to let go.

"Hey, cut it out! Let go of…. Ow!" They started chomping on my ankles, biting hard on them. I looked up and saw an entire swarm of them about to dive at me. But as suddenly as they appeared, they stopped moving, completely frozen, before clattering to the ground.

"What? I don't understand, why won't they respond?"

"That must be Saffron," I said, pride swelling up in my chest. "She shut down PA system. You can't control them anymore if they're linked to that!"

"You're gonna pay for that!" she screamed. "If you won't let me use the nanobots, then I'll just have to test out this puppy instead!" She turned towards the window, and before I could do anything to stop her, dived out of it, shattering the glass on impact and plummeting down a three storey drop.

"No!" I yelled. I _really_ wanted to cream her, but even _I_ knew that this would not be okay! How would I explain the bits of fifth grader splattered all over the playground? It was already too late though. She was gone. A few moments later, I heard something that sounded like a jet engine going off. Rising from below the window, flying up into view, was a twelve foot fall giant robot.

It was big and bulky, with random gears and steaming pipes everywhere and random splotches of colour, like somebody just threw entire buckets of paint at it. It didn't have a head. Instead, it had a glass dome in its chest, and sitting right inside it was our resident evil genius. She was covered in little scrapes and cuts from her encounter with the glass window.

"OW! Owie, owie, that hurt so much!" she cried, her voice magnified through some kind of speaker. "Diving through a window is a lot harder than I thought…. Maybe I should have just opened it…."

"Geez, you think?" I yelled back.

"Shut up! Princess! This will be our final battle!" She readied her fist, a set of spiked knuckle dusters appearing over them, and swung it at me. I dived out of the way just in time as her fist tore through the entire office, demolishing everything there. There wasn't even anything _left_ of the Principal's desk; just splinters.

"Are you out of your mind?!" I screamed.

"Shut up! This is all your fault!" She swung her other fist. This time it grazed me, but even that was enough to send me spinning across the room while her fist blew up the other side of the room. I groggily tried to balance myself. If that thing hit me directly, I would have more in common with a ketchup stain than a person. Running and hiding was impossible. It would just drop the roof on me. I only had one option.

I charged towards it.

It swung its right fist again. I was just glad they were easy to see coming, because I ducked beneath it, the arm sweeping across the whole room. Any more punches and I was sure the roof would collapse. I was as close as I was going to get. I aimed both of my Taser guns at it, and fired, the cables sticking to her glass screen.

"H-hey, wait a second," she stuttered.

"This has been a blast, but the show is over!" Electricity coursed from my gun, through the cable, and into the robot, electric sparks and jets of fire shooting out from all over it as its pilot screamed. Its engine failed, the machine falling from the sky. It would have taken me with it if I hadn't started retracting the gun cables already. I didn't see it hit the ground, but I definitely heard it crashing into the packed dirt and grass of the playground.

I peered over the edge of the now missing wall at the destruction I had caused. The mech wasn't moving. There was still the occasional spark of electricity, but that was it. I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. She probably deserved that for everything she put me through, but she actually took over the _entire school_ , and in less than an hour. As an evil genius, I had to give her my respect. It didn't seem fair if she went _splat_ at a school playground. I looked for something that could help lower me down to her quickly when I remembered my guns.

I fired them and then, without charging them with electricity, tied them around bits of broken scaffolding and piping sticking out from the walls. I leaped out of the room and shimmied down like some kind of rock climber, surprising the cowering students and teachers in the other classes.

I heard a quiet twanging sound, like a wire snapping, and all of a sudden the world was rushing past me. Luckily, I was already near the ground. Unluckily, the only thing to cushion my fall was a giant metal robot.

I growled in agony as I landed on my butt, trying not to cry out or scream. Forcing myself up, I looked into the cockpit. The girl inside looked like she was sleeping. It was almost peaceful. I'm not sure where the strength came from, but I tore open her glass cage, the thing opening up like a door. Maybe it was because it was already damaged?

"Hey, girl, wake up!" I yelled. She groaned, her eyes flickering open.

"Princess? What are you…."

"Doesn't matter, we've got to get out of here. I don't know how safe this guy is." She didn't even try to argue, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. I picked her up and pulled her out of the machine. I leaped off of the robot, flexing my knees as I landed. It didn't help much, and it still hurt after my first fall. I set her down on her feet and supported her as we limped away from the thing.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You were totally awesome!"

"…. Huh?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, Istill beat you. But otherwise, you took over the school on your own! You built a robot army that would make Mojo Jojo proud!"

"I wasn't trying to be like Mojo…." I rolled my eyes.

" _Fine_. Professor Utoniom. Happy? Anyway, I didn't think you actually had the guts to try something like that and get away with it! That's seriously cool!"

"I thought you didn't like robots? That you thought they were too nerdy?"

"Did you ever hear _me_ say that? Well, even though they are, but that's not the point! I'm not an expert, but I use jet packs and power suits! I can at least understand why you like them so much!"

"But all your friends…."

"More like unwanted lackeys maybe…. My point is, you've got some serious potential, but you need to learn how to fine tune it! It's not enough to just make robots. You have to make them well, and _these_ things were pieces of junk! And your plan was _full_ of flaws. No wonder just two people could take you down!"

"Yeah, I guess I didn't think it through, huh? All I wanted was to get people to stop making fun of me…." I clapped her on the shoulder.

"Well, I don't think _anybody_ is going to pick on you anytime soon after this!" I said. I was struggling to hold in my excitement. I'd just thought of a brilliant idea for my plan to destroy the Powerpuffs. "In fact, I could use your help. And the best part is, it benefits the both of us!" She still looked really beat up and deflated, but I'd gotten her attention now. "I'm going to clear you of this entire mess. I'll get guys to come and fix the school, and I'll make sure it doesn't get put on your permanent record. I'll also give you access to the Morbucks research and development facilities and our funding, so you can build and research whatever you want!"

"But in return?"

"In return, you have to help me work on new weapons and gadgets. Anything to help me destroy the Powerp-… umm… fight the forces of evil. So I'll be payingyou to build me stuff!" I thought the payment would be what reeled her in, but her eyes were lighting up when I told her she could work on my gadgets instead. She found the _work_ more fun than the reward? Weird.

"That's… that's the best! Really? Would you really let me do what I want?"

"I don't lie when it comes to money," I said with a smug smile. "So, what do you say?" I held my hand out for a handshake, the same way Daddy does when he's making a deal. Instead, she practically dived on me, crushing me in a bear hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you soooooo so much!"

"Urk, let go of me!"

"I promise I won't let you down! I'll build the coolest stuff in the world!"

"Okay! Just let me breathe!" She released me, hastily apologising. "Anyway, we might as well do some proper introductions now we're on the same side. My name is Princess. Princess Morbucks."

"Georgina Gear. But you can call me Gina." I smiled, although it was probably more of an evil grin.

What can I say? I just _love_ it when a good plan comes together!

* * *

 **AN: It's that time again! Thank you to _mlpgirl1998_ ("I used to wonder what friendship could be (My Little Pony)/ Until you all shared its magic with me!") for the enthusiastic follow and fave, which was pretty quickly followed by a massive increase in reads for that day. Glad you enjoyed it!**

 **For the follow, thank you _Redd 000_! (You're fan of the Ruffs and yet you haven't read "While Mojo's Away"? Go read it! Go read it now and don't turn back until you have! In character, flawless grammar, full of the feels _and_ the laughs!) For my readers, I shall (try) make sure my work is always up to snuff!**

 **So, see you all on Friday!**


	4. DIAL 555-WE DON'T CARE

**I don't have a lot to say this time. I guess just read and review! I love hearing (err, reading) what you guys have to think!**

 **CHAPTER 4: DIAL 555-WE DON'T CARE**

My life can never be simple, can it? I just wanted to save the day, honest! Sure, my long term goal involved the eradication of the Powerpuff Girls, but until then I was still doing the 'right' thing!

After too long of inactivity, my watch beeped in alarm. There was a museum that was being robbed over at the other side of town. A silent alarm had been sounded and the cops would be arriving soon, but the crooks were heavily armed, and would be gone by the time they got there. In the middle of town was a giant monster attack. The giant monster was definitely a bigger threat, and that's where the Powerpuff Girls would be. They would probably take their time if they were still a little sick from last week. So it was my job to deal with the museum thieves.

I called Gina as I was equipping my suit, strapping the jetpack to my back.

"So, you've got something new for me to work with?" I asked.

"Uh-huh!" she replied enthusiastically. "It's still going through beta testing, so be prepared for faults. Still, use it frequently. I want to get test data for it." I flew out of my bedroom window. I think I put a little bit too much force in the action, because all the windows around it shattered as I left. Ah well. I'd just get someone to fix it when I got back.

"So what exactly does it _do_?" I asked, looking at my watch skeptically. There was now a purple button on the side with a smiley face on it.

"Well, remember my old nanobots?" she asked. I nodded my head, then realised that she couldn't see me and replied with a 'yeah' instead. "Well, I've upgraded them a bit and reconfigured them to recognise your suit as an ally or command post. When you press that button, they'll come crawling out of your backpack and head for any moving object or living organism nearby. Then they'll self destruct and blast them to a million pieces!"

"Ooh, sounds flashy!"

"Yeah! I haven't installed them with proper threat detection software though, so they'll have a hard time telling apart friendlies from enemies. Don't use them near hostages or other people! Only use them on bad guys!"

"No problem! I'll make sure the big bads get _very_ acquainted with them!"

I could see the museum coming up in my view already, my contacts circling it as the target destination.

"Alright then," I mumbled, "tell me where the crooks are…." I started seeing multicoloured, vaguely human shapes appearing through the walls, probably all the guards that they had managed to get past. Some of them were lying down or slumped against stuff. At first I thought they were sleeping, but then I realised that they had been knocked out. They also had much cooler colours than the guards who were awake. Instead of reds and bright oranges, they were mainly yellows.

I spotted two people crouching and creeping about in the middle of the museum. Those were _definitely_ the guys I was looking for. I charged straight for them, roof or no roof, fist extended.

I slammed through it with ease, the roof caving in as I landed inside the museum, perfectly on my feet this time. It was all coming back to me now. It was all routine again. So routine that I took the time to celebrate.

"Princess has arrived!" I cried, throwing my hands up in the air. I only wished I had a ribbon or some fireworks to make my entrance more flamboyant.

"Who are you?" one of the two crooks snarled. They were both dressed from head to toe in black, with black ski masks covering their faces. They also looked kind of short, like pint sized bank robbers.

" _Hello?_ Didn't you hear me? I already said my name is-"

"Hyaa!" Another section of the roof blew up, and coming down along with it came a Powerpuff. And of all the Powepuff Girls it could have been, it had to be Buttercup.

"Princess Morbucks, I should have known that it would have been you who's up to something like this!" she roared. Once upon a time, all of the girls were just pallet swaps of each other, dressed the same with different colours. They still did that a lot, but today Buttercup had decided to go with her own thing. I guess they were caught off guard when the cry for help sprung up.

She was wearing a black _Ramones_ t-shirt with neon green gloves and green jeans, black combat boots, and a green hair band. Add super thick mascara and a spiked choker and she would have looked like a punk rocker. I was kind of expecting her sisters to join her in vandalising the roof (note to self: fly in through the _window_ next time), but the roof remained (mostly) intact.

"Buttercup, what are you _doing_?" I screamed at her. "You're _supposed_ to be fighting a giant monster round about now!"

"The others said they could handle it and told me to go on ahead. And look what I find? You're back in the act, stealing from museums. _Museums!_ "

"What? I'm not stealing anything, I'm here to save the day!"

"Yeah right, I've already caught you red handed!" I was wondering what she was talking about when I looked down. I was standing right on top of a giant ruby, the display case broken from me smashing into it. From up on that pedestal, I understood why everybody looked so short. Even though my contacts could see people through walls, it wasn't so great at spotting objects. This was a lesson to look before you crash through roofs.

"Oops," I said. "Wait, Buttercup, I can explai-" Nope. That wasn't happening. She'd already launched herself at me, her fist slamming into my face. The world flipped crazily around me as I spun around, only becoming still as I slammed into a wall, cracks forming around my body. If I didn't have my suit, I would have been dead, and even _with_ it, I was seeing stars. It took me a few seconds to refocus.

By the time I'd come to, Buttercup was gone. I looked around frantically for her, then I realised my mistake. I dived sideways, using my jet pack for that extra burst of speed. Buttercup slammed down on where I was standing just a second ago, her fist sticking in the ground.

"W-wait a second Buttercup, I'm trying to stop the _real_ crooks, you have to calm down!" I yelled. Really, nobody understood grace and patience anymore, did they?

"Shut up you liar!" she spat back. "I thought you quit? I guess once a villain, always a villain!" I actually had to agree with her on that one, but that wasn't the point!

She lunged at me, swinging a barrage of fury filled punches. It was all I could do just to block them, let alone dodge. What scared me even more was that even _if_ I was using the ultra upgraded golden edition of my suit, I don't think I would have been able to deal with it. It had been so long since I'd fought the Powerpuffs, and they had only been improving over time.

She kicked me in the side, sending me rolling through the ground. I flew into the air, trying to get any advantage I could over her, and this time, I made sure to keep my eyes locked on her. It didn't help. She disappeared in a green flash.

I kept seeing green blurs and flashes all around me. I was constantly turning around, trying desperately to lock onto her, only to get hit from behind or swept off me feet and knocked to the walls. This was definitely _not_ working.

"Will you calm down?!" I roared, pressing the button on my watch. If _I_ couldn't fight her, then maybe Gina's little gadget would do the trick?

A small army of black insect-looking machines crawled out from my jet pack, each about the size of a ping pong ball, but as soon as they leaped off of my shoulders they expanded until they were the size and shape of bowling balls, the little windup keys still in their backs, now with a lit fuse on the top of their heads.

"Go, my robot minions!" I yelled, pointing forwards. "Turn that Powder puff into mincemeat!" They all marched forward, the sound of their tiny feet and a ticking like a time bomb filling the air. Buttercup came to a stop in front of one of them.

"What the heck _is_ this thing?" she asked. It clung to her ankle, glowing red as the beeping it made got faster and faster. "Whoa! No, no, don't do that!" She tore it off and chucked it out the window. I couldn't see it anymore, but I could still hear the explosion, sending shock waves across the room. She picked up all of the bombs before they could get anywhere near detonating and tossed them out the window, all in the space of a few seconds. I stared, slack jawed at the whole thing. I was so surprised, I didn't even notice Buttercup punching me in the gut.

It felt like coughing up a black hole. It was no surprise that I was sent flying straight up, slamming into the ceiling with a resounding crash. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't feel most of my body.

I, the great and powerful Princess Morbucks, had been defeated.

And the worst part was that I could see the crooks sneaking off with the giant ruby I had landed on, yet I couldn't even speak or yell at Buttercup to stop them.

Buttercup was just dusting off her hands, a proud look on her face.

"That'll teach ya not to to try anything funny when _I'm_ on watch! The cops will get here any minute now." Two more crashes later, and Blossom and Bubbles were also standing in the room, brushing off the bits of debris. Blossom was wearing a pink blouse and a red skirt, and of course, her usual red ribbons that made her look like some kind of giant pink bunny rabbit. Bubbles looked more like she usually did, with a blue and black sun dress, although she'd added to it with a big wide brimmed hat that now had a big suspiciously shaped chunk of it missing. It looked like somebody had tried to bite her head off, but just got her hat instead.

"Sorry we're late," Blossom apologised. "That monster was a lot tougher than it looked."

"Yeah, Blossom had to freeze the highway and slide it out of Townsville," Bubbles added. "Then we could fight it without holding back."

"It was a close match, but Bubbles gave it an uppercut, punching it all the way into the Pacific Ocean!"

"Although not before it ate my hat…."

"Don't worry, I'll make a new one for you."

"Really?"

"Yup! Promise! So, Buttercup… did you stop the museum thief?"

" _Duh_! It was none other than our good friend, Princess Morbucks." As soon as she said my name, I fell from the ceiling, slamming into the ground. Honestly, I barely even felt it. I was in too much pain from everything else for it to even register.

"No… you didn't," I wheezed, still trying to get my breath back.

"What, you still wanna fight?" Buttercup asked, readying her fists.

"No!" I choked. Revenge would have to wait if this was all I could manage against _one_ of them. "I'm saying that you didn't stop the jewel thief! Look over there!" The girls all turned around, and saw a shockingly lonely looking pedestal. Buttercup dashed towards me, picking me up by the collar and shaking me like a rag doll.

"Alright Princess, where did you hide it? I know you've got it!"

"Stop… shaking me! You were fighting me the whole time, I didn't do it!"

"Liar!"

"Buttercup, wait!" Blossom interrupted. Reluctantly, Buttercup lowered me to the floor. "Princess, what are you talking about? Why are you here anyway?"

"I was _trying_ to stop the jewel thief when _Buttercup_ came through and attacked me for no reason!" I whined. "I tried to explain, but she called me a _liar_!" My voice caught a little on that last word. I'd had some bad days the past few weeks, but absolutely everything that could have gone wrong went wrong this time. I lost to the Powerpuffs (in a one on one fight!), the bad guy got away, Gina's invention didn't work, and the only person who wanted to even _listen_ to me was my worst enemy, and even _she_ was struggling to believe me. At least Bubbles looked a little sympathetic.

"Oh… sorry Princess, we didn't mean to jump to conclusions like that… right Buttercup?"

"She started it with her stuck up attitude," Buttercup grumbled.

"Buttercup!"

" _Fine_ , I'm sorry I beat you up." I didn't answer, not because I didn't want to (I didn't), but because I could feel myself breaking into tears. I was sobbing quietly to myself, clenching my fists as I tried to get back up.

"Man, you don't have to cry about it," Blossom said, although she _definitely_ sounded annoyed instead of sympathetic.

"Blossom, she's miserable, stop picking on her," Bubbles said. Buttercup glared at her.

"Come on, Bubbles, it's not like she hasn't tried to trick us by crying before."

"But even if she _is_ lying, we still attacked her for no reason."

"She's at a _crime scene_ , in a _super suit!_ What did you expect me to think, that she got lost flying to Mojo's? What would _you_ guys have done?" Bubbles didn't answer, looking at her toes in embarrassment.

"Guys, this isn't the time for this," Blossom said. "If we hurry, we can still catch the _real_ crooks." Just as they began to fly into the air, I noticed one of Gina's nanobots, stumbling towards me. It looked like it had gotten lost, and was coming back to it's owner.

 _Wait, coming back? Are they meant to do that?_

I screamed in horror as it sat down, glowing red and beeping red. There was a sound like the world's biggest drum getting struck by lightning, a flash of all sorts of colours flaring across my vision, and then the feeling that somebody was pulling my breath out of me.

Then the world went dark.

* * *

The first thing that I noticed was the smell of mushroom soup. It felt positively divine, like somebody melted down heaven and its aroma was dancing around in my nose. Next, I noticed was that I was lying down in something soft. I couldn't really remember much of anything, but I was pretty sure that I was nowhere near my nice, comfy bed when I fell asleep. Actually, when _did_ I fall asleep? What was even going on?

The third thing I noticed was the sound of one of those cheap, rotating fans. That was probably what was responsible for the fourth thing I noticed: the fact that I felt cool, even refreshed, as long as I ignored the throbbing in my head and my aching muscles at least.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, and that's when I noticed the fifth thing: I had no idea where I was.

On the bright side, I knew all of my senses were working.

I was in a small, quaint little room, with pink walls and a white floor and ceiling. Or at least, I thought they were pink. It was hard to tell with only the bedside lamps being on. The bed I was in was big enough, with three vertical stripes along the blankets: blue, green, and pink. I didn't really like the colour arrangement, but it worked.

I felt like I'd been hit by a truck on ice skates, and my face was practically burning. My head was still ringing as I tried to piece together bits of my memory. I remembered getting a signal about a robbery or something. I went to stop it, but met Buttercup instead. I lost, _badly_ , and then….

"Gina, I'm going to kill you and your stupid malfunctioning gadgets," I grumbled as I staggered out of bed. Every movement hurt, but I could still stand and walk without falling over. I stomped towards the door, trying desperately to reign in my anger. I opened the door, looking around nervously. I still had no idea where I was, but the house seemed ordinary enough, if not a bit on the small side. I walked downstairs, looking around for any clue of my location. As I descended, I could hear the sounds of the TV and some excited voices yelling and cheering about it. I looked down at the room below me, and boy was I _not_ prepared for what I saw!

"Ha! How do you like me now, huh?"

"Buttercup, that attack nearly took me out too!"

"I told you I was using the air strike, didn't I?"

"Yeah but I'm using the Vegalta mech! How am I meant to escape with this thing?"

"Oh relax, you're still alive so it's fine."

"The Vegalta is damaged and there's a whole wave of super robots coming! Giant ants are the _least_ of our worries! Bubbles, back me up here!"

"Well she _did_ warn you to move…."

"What? You too?"

"You can always redeploy the Vegalta later."

"Oh come on, there can't be _nobody_ on my side!"

The scene I was looking at was almost enough to give me a heart attack. All three of the Powerpuffs were together in one room, huddled in front of the screen or on the sofa, and playing some kind of video game with robots, absurd weapons, and giant ants. And their guest was none other than the designer of my failed weaponry, Gina.

I didn't know whether to freak out and scream, or punch somebody in the face, so I just stared slack jawed until a man in a white lab coat and an apron appeared from the kitchen door.

"Ah, Princess," he said as soon as he spotted me, "good to see you're up! Are you feeling any better?" I nodded my head slowly, too dumbstruck to speak. "That's great! You looked like a mess when the girls brought you here, but luckily, you weren't too harmed, and were just a little shocked." The others seemed to notice me at that point. Bubbles waved excitedly at me.

"Hi Princess!" she yelled.

"Focus on the game, Bubbles," Buttercup snapped back.

"Sorry…." She resumed playing with twice the intensity, hammering away at the buttons.

"Yeah, a bomb kind of blew up in your face," Buttercup stated before she added, "Don't worry, your face is fine," just as the blood drained out of me at the thought of my perfect, flawless face being ruined. "It's kinda annoying too. We had to check on you and take you back so the crooks got away."

"Buttercup, it's not her fault," Blossom said, although she looked more focused on the game than on me.

"Yeah, that's actually my fault," Gina said. "I thought that the nanobot's AI would prevent them from harming their source, so I didn't bother installing a proper threat detection system. I guess I was wrong…. If it wasn't for that, they wouldn't have blown up, and you wouldn't be here. I am _really, really_ sorry about all of this."

I wanted to scream at her for creating faulty pieces of black market junk that nearly got me killed. I mean, a _bomb_ went off in my face! I bet the only reason I was still alive was because she was such a terrible inventor that she couldn't even get it to kill me right! But I was still kind of recovering from waking up in the house of my mortal enemies. I took a step forward, but felt myself losing my balance. I nearly collapsed on the spot when the man in the lab coat surged forward, catching me before I could fall completely.

"Whoa, take it easy! You still took a pretty nasty hit. Here, take a seat." He directed me to a sofa, slowly sitting me down. I must have looked like I'd seen a ghost, or maybe that I'd become the ghost instead, my skin pale and eyes sunken like a skeleton. "I was preparing soup for when you woke up. Wait here and get some rest. Try not to move too much." The man darted away towards the kitchen, leaving me to stare at my mortal enemies with a vacant look in my eyes. It looked like they'd finished their level, because they were all whooping and cheering until Bubbles noticed me and came to play the 'good' host.

"Sorry, this is all still kind of our fault," she said. "We asked the Professor for help making sure you were okay. Your clothes were all really badly damaged, so we swapped them out for some of my own since we're the same size." That's when I realised I wasn't wearing the _fibre-o-tomic-omic_. I looked down and saw I was dressed in pink pyjamas with purple sleeves and a picture of a white unicorn with a purple mane.

"You took my suit?!" I screamed, feeling my wrath surging back to me as I bolted out of my chair. The effort nearly made me black out, and I collapsed back into the sofa, clutching my head and fighting back the nausea.

"Don't move so much!" Blossom scolded me. "You took a bomb to your face. I'm not even sure why you're _awake_ …."

"What did you do to my suit? _Please_ don't tell me you tried to wash it to be 'helpful' because that's thousands of dollars of expensive equipment!"

"Of course not! We called Gina. She's the only one who's seen how your suit actually works, right?"

"Gina? How did you know that she would know?"

"There's only one person in school who could make bombs that moved like that. We heard all about how she took over school while we were sick, and she was the last person you called on your phone. She was more than happy to help after we explained the situation to her." Gina waved nervously at me, although it kind of looked like she was hiding behind her glasses somehow.

"Gina, where's the suit?" I snapped.

"It's in the Professor's lab," she said. "I didn't mess around with it. I just looked it over to see what was still salvageable."

" _Salvageable?_ "

"Uhh… maybe you misunderstand! It's fine, it's still operational, but I'm not sure if it's safe to use right now. It will need a full checkup later. But it can be fixed no problem!" I inhaled deeply and exhaled, trying to calm myself down. Having a meltdown wasn't going to help anybody, especially not myself. I could get mad at Gina for her faulty inventions later. Right now, my priority was getting better.

The man (I guess the Professor?) came back into the room, carrying a bowl of soup on a tray. He pulled a small coffee table towards me and placed the tray on top of it.

"Careful, it's pretty hot," he said. I grabbed the bowl and shoved a spoonful into my mouth. I felt like my face was going to explode as I fanned my face frantically. I could see Buttercup snickering as I swallowed the stuff like it was lava, frantically fanning my face like it would somehow make it better. The Professor raised an eyebrow at me. "You see? What did I tell you."

"Why would you serve it to me so hot? Are you trying to kill me?"

"Well, it's better than cold soup, I can tell you that much," he laughed. Then, he suddenly stopped on the spot. He sniffed the air a few times. "Do you guys smell that?" His eyes widened in horror as whatever mistake he'd made dawned on him. "The chicken! It's still in the oven!"He sprinted out of the room _again_ while the rest of the girls all seemed to drift back to various places. Bubbles went back to the couch and pulled out a sketchbook and pencil from beneath the cushions. Buttercup changed the game to something else, and Gina followed, cracking her knuckles as if she was getting ready for a fight. Only Blossom stayed behind, staring at me.

"What? Are you here to make fun of me?" I asked. Blossom shook her head. "Oh, so you're just going to stare at me until I'm self conscious of my ridiculous clothes and messed up hair, right?"

"I don't think Bubble's pyjamas are ridiculous."

"Well obviously _you_ don't. Your fashion sense is just as absurd." Blossom rolled her eyes, but chose not to comment on it. "Then what _do_ you want?"

"I just wanna know something. Why did you do it?"

"What, _blow myself up_? Were you paying any attention?"

"No! Not that! Why you were at the museum! I know you weren't the jewel thief, so why were you there at all?"

"Gina didn't tell you?" She shook her head.

"Gina said you were testing out a new weapon, but that doesn't explain why you were at the museum just as a robbery was taking place."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me." She looked resolved. Time to see her prove me right.

"I was there trying to 'save the day in the name of justice'. Believe me?"

"Elaborate."

"Ugh, all these questions. I've been watching the streets lately, looking for crimes that you might have missed. Whenever something goes wrong and you're occupied, I go and deal with it. If I'm lucky, there's even a crowd waiting to cheer me on. If not, then it's an angry mob trying to chuck stones."

"Sounds… harsh."

"Tell me about it! And all I'm doing is my fair share as a good citizen of Townsville and mopping the streets with the cretins and convicts that are too selfish to do it themselves! And I'm treated with such _hatred_! Can you imagine?"

"Maybe it's because you have a history of trying to take _over_ Townsville?"

"Wait… you actually believe me?"

"Well, the police have said they've spotted you showing up to crime scenes, causing trouble, but a lot of the people we interviewed have been saying you've actually helped save them or beat up the bad guy. I guess I didn't know who to believe until tonight. And now that you've told me, it's a little easier to swallow. What's your hidden agenda?" I held my hand to my chest, a shocked expression on my face.

"Madame, you wound me! Why can't you just trust me a bit? Why must I have a hidden agenda to everything?"

"Because you're Princess Morbucks!"

"When have I ever had such a two faced nature though?"

"That time when you wanted to destroy the Rowdyruff Boys, and you roped us into your scheme to do it, claiming it was because you turned a new leaf?"

"That was in the past! Now I fight for the forces of good! Although I can't say I'd be looking forward to working with you guys anyway."

"Don't flatter yourself Princess. You're not cut out to be a Powerpuff Girl anyway."

"Why, because I'm better than you guys in every way possible?"

"No, because you're still a stuck up brat, even after all these years."

"You just say that because you're jealous of all the stuff that _I_ have that _you_ can't afford."

"As if I could _ever_ be jealous of you."

"Of course not. You can't be jealous of somebody if you're not even in the same _league_ as them."

"If you're so superior, then why don't you try and back it up, huh?"

"I think I might just do that, starting with you!" I could feel my temper flaring up, and I could almost feel enraged sparks between us as we stared each other down.

I wonder what would have happened if Bubbles hadn't said "hey, do you guys hear that?" At first I thought she was making it up to distract me, so her sister could get an advantage. But then I heard it too. A shrill, high pitched ringing. It was hard to make out, but I could definitely hear it, and it was coming from upstairs….

"Daddy!" I cried, forgetting all about our little discussion. I sprung out of the sofa, fell flat on my face, and then forced myself back to my feet, sprinting upstairs.

"Wait, Princess, don't move so much!" I heard Gina yell. I ignored her, bounding up to the room I'd awoken in. Sure enough, on the bedside table was a pink smart phone, its screen flashing as it vibrated and beeped with an annoying ring tone that I seriously needed to change. I practically dived across the bed, grabbing it and pulling it to my ear.

"Hi Daddy!" I yelled as cheerfully as possible.

" _Good evening Miss Morbucks_ ," a morbid voice said over the phone. I felt my stomach sinking a little bit. It was _not_ daddy. It was just one of the butlers.

"Oh… hello Conan," I said, feeling the energy drain out of me. "What is it?"

" _I heard that you're at the Utonium household. Are you unharmed?_ "

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little bit dizzy, that's all."

" _That's good to hear. We were all worried when you suddenly disappeared. We received a phone call from Professor Utonium a few hours ago explaining the situation and your injuries. I can arrange transport to take you back to the manor at your earliest convenience_." I was about to jump at the chance. Getting away from the Power poofs would probably do me some good. But for some reason, I hesitated.

"Does Daddy know about what happened?"

" _Master Morbucks has been informed._ "

"Did… did he say anything?"

"… _Master Morbucks asked me to apologise on his behalf for being unable to be with you. He has urgent business to attend to._ "

"…. You're lying. He didn't say anything, did he?" There was a moment of silence, like Conan was contemplating whether to tell the truth or feed me with another lie.

" _Unfortunately, he was preoccupied when we told him the news. He has been incredibly busy of late. He did, however, suggest that you hurry home immediately._ "

"But he didn't care? He wasn't worried, or even look for me himself? He hasn't even come to pick me up?"

" _I assure you, Master Morbucks was almost certainly concerned for your safety, but he also trusts that you are a responsible young lady, and has other matters of importance to attend to_."

"I'm _twelve_. He can't just assume that I'm 'responsible'. And he has stuff more important than his daughter?"

" _You can discuss matters with him personally when you are retrieved back to the manor. Perhaps I should pick you up in thirty minutes?_ "

"Yeah, that would be… actually…. No, you _can't_ pick me up in thirty minutes."

" _An hour then?_ "

"No. Don't even bother!"

" _I'm… I'm sorry?_ "

"I'm not going to get picked up today. In fact, I'm having a slumber party at the Utonium house tonight!" I yelled triumphantly. "It's clear that Daddy doesn't care where I am, so I might as well sleep over at… at my _friend's_ house! I'm sure he won't object to that!"

" _I… as you wish._ " He hung up, leaving me standing with my phone loosely in my hands. He didn't even try to argue with me. He didn't try and stop and reason with me or anything, and if Daddy _really_ didn't care, then it wouldn't even matter.

Fine. Who needed them anyway? Not me, that's for sure. He was never really there when it mattered. Even if he was there, he may as well have been across the country with how detached he was. I could be fine just on my own. In fact, I could have fun with my _friends_! I just had to _make_ some first. And since Saffron wasn't around, the closest thing I had to those right now were the Powerpuffs and Gina.

Yeah, I would be fine. We would party and eat snacks and tell ghost stories and gossip and do all those other things Jessie and James talked about doing when they had slumber parties. All the things I never got the chance to do. I tried to ignore the gnawing feeling in my gut that something was wrong. I wiped the tears away before they could start streaming down my face (why was I even _crying_?) and headed for the door. I pushed it open and saw Gina standing there, frozen mid step going up.

"I… I came up to check on you," she said. "You were taking a while, and I got worried…."

"How much did you hear?" I asked.

"Not much, I just got here. I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything." I felt too drained to get mad at her, trudging miserably down the stairs. I sat down on the couch, unwilling to move again. The Professor entered the room one more time, a pair of big oven mitts on his hands.

"Oh, Princess, just one question," he said. "I can take you back to your parents if you want. What time do you want me to drop you?"

"Don't bother," I replied.

"Oh, of course… wait, what?" Everyone was looking at me funny now. If there was one thing I got out of this, it was seeing the looks of pure bafflement on the Powerpuff's faces.

"I think I'll be sleeping over tonight," I said. "Think of it as one giant sleepover!"


	5. I AM THE QUEEN OF SLUMBER PARTIES

**Hey everybody! Okay, so the whole of next week I'm kind of caught up and will be in the middle of who-knows-where. I'm not even sure if I'll have an internet connection really... As a result, I'm not sure if I'll be able to upload in time, which really sucks, I know. I'm really sorry! If I can't upload on Friday like usual, then I'll upload on Sunday instead, latest. Honestly, it sucks for me too. I'm already pressed for time to write this, I don't like having it squeezed anymore. I hope you guys will understand! Well, let's not talk about that anymore because it makes me sad. To my guest review!**

 **Meeptastic: Thank you so much for the review! Yeah, she makes a surprisingly good hero (err, _is_ she a hero?). I already liked her character, but in the process of writing this I've started to see her in a much more positive light. The trick is to _not_ destroy her personality though! She's still vain and egotistical and sometimes even _I_ feel like just reaching in and wringing her neck! And that's kind of what I'm going for! So, I hope you enjoy this chapter too!**

 **CHAPTER 5: I AM THE QUEEN OF SLUMBER PARTIES**

Awkward. That was all that it was. Either awkward, or downright dangerous.

I was sitting at one end of the table, and Buttercup was at the other side. None of us were willing to take our eyes off the other. I was pretty sure that any moment, she was going to pull a fast one and sucker punch me to the moon. She was probably thinking the same thing, like I had explosives hidden somewhere. While I _wish_ I did, they probably wouldn't do anything to a Powerpuff anyway. I would have to get a lot more practice at fighting before I even stood a chance at beating them.

The rest of the table wasn't quite as tense as our stare off, but I think we were starting to make them uncomfortable. Gina and Bubbles seemed to be getting on alright, which surprised me a lot. Gina loved talking about robots and machines, and Bubbles kept on bringing up all these random cartoons she liked. They met in the middle and were discussing a mech anime animatedly, debating heavily about the effectiveness of the female pilots in _Code Geass_ (okay, I lie. They were gushing about a list of increasingly bizarre pairings and ships).

Blossom was watching Buttercup and I with a mixture of concern and apprehension, and the Professor was awkwardly eating his dinner. His cooking was delicious, honestly. Even Conan would be impressed! But it was hard to focus on it when it felt like your plate was a landmine, and each bite would erupt into a super powered fight.

"So, Princess, how's school?" the Professor asked, obviously trying to change the subject. As tactlessly as it had been done, I was actually happy for the topic change… or a change to _any_ topic really.

"Oh, school is wonderful!" I said. "We got our tests back, and I got a ninety-eight percent! I was, like the smartest girl in school!"

"Liar, that's the score that Blossom got!" Buttercup pointed out.

"Yeah, well Blossom only got that score because all the teachers play favourites," I countered.

"You'd get it too if you spent more time studying and less time coming up with schemes to mess with us," Buttercup growled.

"At least I'm using my head for something productive, Buttercup." That one was definitely a stinger. I could see Buttercup grinding her teeth.

"You got a problem with me?"

"I don't know, do _you_?" She looked like she was about to throw a punch when the Professor glared at her. She stopped right in her tracks. It was the weirdest thing ever. He didn't even have to go for a newspaper or raise his hand or do anything to show she was in trouble, but she froze like somebody pulled out her batteries.

"Buttercup, play nice," he said. "Princess is our guest, and she's not feeling well either, so you should be treating her well."

"But… but she's _trying_ to get me mad!"

"Buttercup." She slumped down in her seat, folding her arms and grumbling to herself. I stuck my tongue out at her triumphantly. "Princess, you calm down too."

"What? But she started it!" I whined.

"That doesn't give you the right to act mean back. We all act cordial to each other during dinnertime."

"Even if somebody else starts it?"

"Even if somebody else starts it." I wanted to argue, but I didn't even know what to say. He looked _too_ calm. If I picked a fight here, I would definitely look like the bad guy. Instead, I stayed quiet, stabbing at my food. And that's when I noticed the offending vegetables.

Right there, on the side of my plate, was a clump of spinach. I swear the stuff was glaring angrily at me, daring me to taint my tongue with its repulsive flavour. I dropped my fork as if it had just shocked me, crying out in disgust.

"What is it?" Bubbles asked, her skin turning white and her eyes widening. "Is it a cockroach? Or a _spider_?"

"No, eww. Nothing like that. I just noticed there was spinach on my plate."

"Duh, you have to have _some_ kind of vegetables," Buttercup said, even though she hadn't even touched her own.

"Spinach has loads of iron," the Professor said. "It's good for your bloodstream and helps you to grow up into a big, strong girl."

"Actually, that's not entirely true," Blossom replied. "Spinach _does_ have plenty of iron, but not the absurd amounts that people think of. That was originally an error in one of the early studies done on spinach, and ever since then people have just assumed that-"

"Who cares?" I interrupted. "It's icky. Take it out."

"You haven't even touched it."

"I don't _have_ to. It's a vegetable, and vegetables are gross."

"Hey, Princess, the Professor worked really hard to prepare dinner, so the least you could do is try it. It probably won't kill you."

"I don't have to try _anything_ I don't like at home. Weren't you trying to make me feel at home?"

"We want you to feel comfortable, not like a pampered poodle. Now _eat_."

"No! I don't wanna!"

"Now girls," the Professor interrupted, "there's no need to get so worked up over a simple vegetable." I'm not sure how much of that I'd heard at the time, but I know Blossom practically filtered it out. Now _we_ were arguing with each other instead. I couldn't believe this! How could they expect me to eat the same kind of food as these commoners? I could have ordered them to prepare a giant chocolate fondant, but I felt like being nice and humouring them! Didn't they see what sacrifices I was already making?

I was so worked up, I almost missed it when Gina loudly yelled something. All of our attention turned to her.

"So, we're at school, right? We're in the middle of a physics lesson. Miss. Keane is hopelessly off topic and teaching us about nuclear physics or something and we're all _clueless_. Then, this one girl walks in, _hopelessly_ late, panicking and apologising again and again like she's in some kind of high school anime, complete with bowing practically to the floor." As she said this, she started to get up to demonstrate, leaning on the table as she did so. "So she starts heading to her desk, still apologising when—whoa!" She slipped on the table cloth, face planting right in a big bowl of pudding. Amazingly, she kept trying to talk, bubbles bursting around her face before she pulled herself out, still going without pause. "… she ends up knocking her chair down accidentally— _crash!_ The whole thing practically falls apart!"

We didn't even wait for her to finish her story, because we already broke into laughter just seeing her casually going on, even with pudding all over her face. She just took off her glasses, wiping them quickly before putting them back on.

"So, she turns around to pick it up… _thunk_ , knocks her desk over instead! She turns around, trips over it, _bam!_ Knocks over somebody _else's_ desk! Everything is flying in the air and it's just chaos. Everyone just stars. Silence…. Then, calmly, Ms. Keane says 'this is a perfect example of a chain reaction.'"

The table was just as explosive, but from laughter, not exploding furniture. I couldn't help myself, and neither could anybody else. The punchline was terrible and I'm not even sure it counted as a pun, but just _watching_ Gina was absurd! She spoke with her whole body, moving and gesturing and warping her expression for everything she said, complete with sound effects fit for a comic book. By the time she was done and cleaned the pudding off her face, the whole table got drawn into it, different people randomly adding bits and extra quips to the tale, the hostility completely reversed. Then, Bubbles spoke up between her laughter.

"Gina, wasn't the girl who came in late _you_?" Gina's face started to turn beetroot red.

"That is strictly classified information," she squeaked, nervously playing with her glasses.

"It _was_ you! It was even on your first day of school! You were so embarrassed that you didn't even want to talk to anybody afterwards!"

 _And it stayed that way ever since_ , I wanted to add, but that would have been a low blow even for me. Besides, Gina looked so thrilled, even _I_ couldn't take that away from her. This felt totally different to hanging out with Lao and Lyra. How come gossiping about this stuff wasn't as fun with them? There was something different about it, and I wasn't sure what…. Actually, did it even count as gossiping if the person you were making fun of was _yourself_?

Whatever it was, dinner carried on as usual and eventually finished. After washing up the plates ("How can you _live_ doing such demeaning menial labour?" I asked, although Bubbles seemed to find my dilemma adorably funny), we all migrated towards the Powerpuff's bedroom.

It was roughly the same size as the one that I had woken up in, with the same absurd colour walls, only this place was much more lively, with teddy bears and posters of rock stars and anime characters, and a bookshelf with a wide array of books, fiction and non-fiction. There were three pathetically tiny colour coded beds that must have belonged to the girls themselves. I was surprised that they could all share such a small living space and not go insane.

"This is nothing," Buttercup said. "We used to all share the _same bed_. We still use the bed sometimes, but I'd rather get some shuteye without having to listen to Bubble's snoring."

"I do _not_ snore!" Bubbles snapped back. "Stop making stuff up!"

"You _so_ snore! Once, it got so loud that the she broke the windows!"

"You're lying! That was you playing a trick on me!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

"You're the one who hasn't proved anything!" Buttercup stuck her tongue out at her sister, and Bubbles pulled a funny face back, the two of them trying to outdo one another. Blossom just shook her head, a slanted smile on her face.

"Is this common?" Gina asked.

"Don't mind them, they're always like this," Blossom said. "So, since we're all _here_ , who wants to watch a movie?"

"Ooh, me!" Bubbles yelled. "I'll set everything up!" Bubbles dashed out of the room practically at light speed, wind billowing around the room. A book even dislodged itself from the bookshelf, almost falling out. I lightly nudged it with my fingertip, pushing it back into place. A moment later, Bubbles returned carrying a giant bowl of popcorn in one hand and a mini projector in the other. Buttercup dashed out of the room as well, returning with a laptop and a stack of DVDs. We pulled out one of the mattresses and as many pillows and stuffed animals as we could and stacked them against the foot of the bed. Then we all huddled up on it, covering ourselves with a big multi-coloured blanket now that it was starting to get cold.

"But what're we gonna watch?" Buttercup asked. "Bubbles, if you pick another romantic comedy, I swear I will destroy all of your colouring books."

"No! That's not fair!" Bubbles cried. "Well I don't want to watch another action movie!"

"Aw come on, I'll hold back on the gory ones this time. Hey, how about Pacific Rim? There's giant robots!"

"Power to the robots," Gina said, raising a fist in the air.

"Something with at least _some_ intelligence please," I suggested.

"That eliminates all the High School Musicals, Princess," Buttercup said with a smirk.

"I wasn't going to say that!" Besides, the third movie wasn't _that_ bad…."

"Hey, guys, any of you ever watched _Saw?_ " Blossom said, an evil grin on her face as she held up a DVD with half of a creepy girl's face on it. Buttercup got all excited, practically bouncing out of her skin.

"Alright! A horror movie! Way to pick em, Blossom! Wait, Bubbles is too much of a scaredy cat to watch horror movies."

"I am _not_ a scaredy cat!"

"You got scared watching Scooby Doo."

"There were chains! It was intangible and had no face! _That was not a human_!

"It was a guy in a costume, Bubbles. It _always_ is."

"Then what kind of person dresses up as a monster and tries to kill people to commit crimes?!"

"I've gotta say, she has a point," Gina grudgingly acknowledged.

"Actually, maybe no horror movies this time," Blossom relented. "I'm not sure what we would say if the Professor walked in while we're in the middle of some gruesome murder. It won't help if Bubbles turns into a nervous wreck."

"I told you, I can handle horror movies!"

In the end, we finally started cycling through animated movies. Everything got easier from there. We couldn't decide between _Big Hero 6_ , _Tangled_ , _The Lion King_ , and _Mulan_ , so we decided we'd watch all of them, starting with the first choice. It had something for everybody. There was a robot so Gina was happy, characters ripped straight from an anime that kept Bubbles feeling… bubbly, loads of action scenes that even got _me_ siding with Buttercup on how cool they were, and I guess _something_ that Blossom found entertaining. I dunno, the power of friendship? Lame.

Blossom set up the laptop and projector onto a giant white bed sheet and hit the lights. Our movie night had begun. I'm not sure how much of it we were even paying attention to anyway. Sometimes our eyes were glued to the screen, unblinking and unmoving, but usually we were just talking about random stuff or making up funny scenarios about how a scene could have gone instead. Either way, I was starting to get the feeling that Blossom was making fun of me.

By the time we'd finished the first movie and were moving onto _The Lion King_ , I figured there was some kind of message that she was trying to give, especially with the first movie. The heroes were so… _heroic_. Disgustingly so sometimes. They almost seemed like the _Powerpuffs_. It only ever told the story through their point of view. I mean, for all we know, Scar might not have been that bad a guy! Sure, he was a terrible ruler, but the Pride land fell apart from _drought_. How is that his fault? That's Mother Nature being a jerk! But every story has to have a bad guy, and he fits the bill at a glance. You could swap the heroes of these stories with the Powerpuffs and they would still make sense. So where did I fit? Was I the bad guy? I thought I _wanted_ to be the villain, but it didn't seem so fun for Scar when he was getting eaten by hyenas.

I kept glancing up at Blossom, expecting to catch her laughing to herself and glancing at me when the bad guys popped up on screen, but I never caught her in the act. Not even once.

By the time we'd hit the third movie's climax, everybody had drifted off to sleep. Bubbles was leaning on Buttercup's shoulder and she was slumped forward so her neck looked painfully uncomfortable. Gina was sitting upside down against the foot of the bed, her legs going over the foot rest while her body was down on the mattress. I was starting to feel pretty dizzy too, looking at the screen that was now blank, waiting for somebody to put in another DVD or open a file on the laptop. I looked to my right where Blossom was sitting. She looked like she was going to pass out any second now, but she was still more or less awake.

"Blossom?" I asked.

"Yeah Princess?" she mumbled. Her voice sounded slurred, almost like she wasn't sure what was happening.

"Are you mad?"

"Mad at what?"

"You know… me just deciding to sleep over here like this."

"Why would I be mad?"

"Well, I just randomly declared I was staying… and we're not exactly friends either…."

"That doesn't matter. You were hurt, and we couldn't leave you alone. You say you want to stay, then we've gotta make sure you're comfy while you're here." I looked down at my toes in silence, wiggling them as if to check that they were still my own.

"Why are you all so nice to me?"

"Huh?"

"I know what I'm like. I'm mean and nasty and I push everybody away from me. Even the people like Saffron who try so hard to be my friend… I just look down at them, make them feel small and alone. I just don't know how to act. To do this whole… 'friend' thing. But you guys still hung out with me. You helped me out and treated me, and you let me stay the night. Why would you do all of that even with how horrible I am to you?" Blossom was silent for a bit, not even moving. "Blossom?" For a second, I thought that she'd fallen asleep.

"Isn't it obvious? Because it's the right thing to do."

"Huh? What do you mean?" My only answer was raucously loud snoring. _Well, that answers who's snoring all the time_ , I thought to myself, nodding my head before I too nodded off.

* * *

Gina and I stood at the front door, our stuff packed up and ready to go. I wasn't really sure what was in Gina's backpack, although I did see her stuffing a screwdriver in there. I had to borrow a bag from Blossom, but all it had was my suit and jet pack, now compacted so it could just barely fit in the bag, sticking out a bit at the top. The Utonium household was stood just outside the front door, waving us off.

"Thanks for having us over," Gina said, fastening her backpack straps. "It was really fun!"

"No problem, it was fun to have you around!" Bubbles replied cheerfully. "Stop by again sometime!" Gina looked at me with something like a disapproving glare as I didn't say anything. It took a while for me to get it actually.

"Oh, right. Your service has been most appreciated," I said. Gina sighed.

"That's as close as we're going to get to a 'thank you', isn't it?"

"What do you mean? They've served me and I've expressed gratitude!"

"Yeah, but that's not how it works…."

"It's okay," Blossom interrupted. "I understand. Glad we could have that talk last night." I stared at Blossom for a bit. Talk? What did she mean? My mind was drawing blanks. I'm sure there was something that I was supposed to remember, but I was so sleepy that the latter half of the night just felt like a blur.

"Umm… talk?"

"Oh, yeah, I should probably stay quiet about that," Blossom said.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Of course not!" I glared at her suspiciously. I didn't hear any sarcasm, and her smile actually seemed genuine for once. There was definitely something fishy going on, but I didn't have time to find out, as my private limo showed up at the driveway.

It was pure white with a golden dollar symbol on the hood of the car and golden bumpers and rims. At the wheel was a man in a smart black suit with a black hat. He looked at me with tired eyes.

"I've come to collect you, Princess Morbucks," he said in a tired monotone. He either got his pay docked for some reason, or he'd been having a very busy day.

"Right. I'm dropping off one of my classmates too," I said, trying to sound formal and polite. You know, like an elegant lady.

"Very well. She may come along too." I opened the back door and entered, Gina following after me and mumbling something about the car engine. The car sped off, leaving the Utonium household behind us.

"So, what did you guys talk about?" Gina asked. I furrowed my brow, trying to remember last night.

"Not sure…. I can't really remember."

"Aw, no fair. You're _already_ keeping secrets?" Gina pouted.

"I'm not keeping secrets! It must not have been important I guess…." Gina still looked like she was being left out, but she shrugged her shoulders, staring out the window instead.

And so, the days passed, like nothing ever happened. I still went to school (reconstructed overnight thanks to the Morbucks Foundation), and Blossom and I still didn't see eye to eye, although we avoided each other instead of fighting or arguing. Some days after school, I would meet up with Gina and head to the Morbucks secret research facility where we worked on getting my suit back up to good condition. It was also there where Gina occasionally gave me some new toys to play with, something that I wasn't really looking forward to after her last creation's disastrous malfunction.

Crime carried on and I continued to glamorously save the day, with _no_ help from the Powerpuff Girls of course. And it was on one such day when our paths finally crossed on the job.

My watch beeped in alarm in the middle of English class, the minute and hour hands spinning to point in the direction of the crimes, the minute hand pointing to the one closest. I shot my hand straight up in the air.

"Ms. Hartman, may I please be excused?" I asked, putting on the sweetest smile I could muster.

"Why, of course, Princess," she said. "Just don't take too long." Another hand shot up into the air to my left.

"Ms. Hartman, can I go use the bathroom?" Gina copied.

"Umm… sure. Go ahead I suppose."

"Thank you miss," we yelled in sync as we stood up to head towards the door. I looked behind me over my shoulder. Saffron gave me a knowing look from her seat and I nodded my head. As much of a comfort as it was to know I had an ever trustworthy servant, I had no intention of putting her in harm's way.

Once we had left the classroom and were a reasonable distance away, we started sprinting down the hall.

"What's the situation?" Gina asked. I pulled my phone out of my jean pockets (skirts were _so_ last Tuesday) and unlocked it. Loads of news feeds, cameras, and information synced to my watch started appearing on my phone.

"Two monster attacks, one Disaster Level Demon, the other Disaster Level Tiger," I said. "Since the Powerpuffs are also in school, they should be heading out right about…." I looked out the window. Three colourful streaks of light were shooting off into the sky. "Now!"

"Aren't they going to get there before you do?" Gina asked.

"They'll get to one of them before me, and since they're Powerpuffs, they'll head to the bigger threat. That leaves me with the smaller Tiger level threat."

"You don't have the Fibre-o-tomic-omic. You think you can take it?"

"Well that's more of a test of your skill than it is my strength."

"Okay, true…. I'll set up behind the gym or something. You go get the bad guy, hero."

"Yeah. Got it." I wanted to argue with her about me being a hero, but this wasn't the time for that. I could see the stairs leading to the ground floor fast approaching, and the open window just ahead of them. Gina was probably going to stagger down the steps, but I had a different idea in mind. I pressed the purple button on my watch, the same one that controlled the nanobots. I dived out of the window just as the nanobots all climbed out from my jean and jacket pockets, but instead of expanding into explosives, these stretched like sheets of paper, forming a kind of wing suit across my back. More nanobots shot out from all around the school, running out of every crack they could find: windows, cabinets, doors, even the swimming pool.

They all leaped into the air, clinging to me as soon as they could. In just a few seconds, I was completely covered in nanobots, some of them even warping around my head to form a helmet, a purple glass visor protecting my eyes.

I fell to the ground, landing with an earth rumbling shake. My bones jarred, but otherwise I was fine, even after dropping out of the second storey window. Even after the ground cracked and the pavement splintered.

"Whoa… how heavy _is_ this thing?" I asked, especially since there were still extra bits attaching themselves to me. Already it was shaping up nicely. It was red and black, and really bulky, with big bulky arms and a giant, almost round torso. From the legs down there was a big puffy red dress made entirely out of metal and filled with nanobots.

" _I haven't gotten around to making the suit lightweight and user friendly,_ " Gina said, her voice muffled with static over the suit's comm system. " _But the Queen of Hearts Set should be able to get you through anything. It's surprisingly fast, and constructed almost entirely of shape memory nanobots designed to absorb impact. It can stop twenty millimetre rounds and the flak from grenades with no problem._ "

"Queen of Hearts, eh? Well then, let's see how royal this thing really is!"

I already knew the suit couldn't fly, but that didn't matter to me right now. The dress warped itself around my legs so they were just a pair of super alloy trousers or something. I activated the thrusters, feeling my back and legs heating up already as they kicked into action. I was pretty sure that anybody watching would be able to see bright red jets of fire blasting out of me, and wheels extending out around my feet so it looked a little like I was wearing the biggest pair of roller skates ever. The suit kicked into gear, leaping forward as I sped across the ground and into the car park.

It almost felt like the suit was trying to kick me out. I screamed as I tried to get my balance back, only one foot on the ground as the other one swinging wildly in the air. The scenery shot past me so I barely even registered what was happening. I heard a sound like a chain link fence had snapped, and part of my vision was covered by a sign I recognised; one that said 'no driving above 20mph'.

I saw a brick wall coming up. Panicking, I leaped over it, my feet just barely scraping the top before I landed in the road, swerving around a few parked cars and minor traffic as I headed for the inner city.

" _Princess, don't use so much power!_ " Gina yelled. " _Focus on recalibrating your suit before you go full on with the throttle!_ "

"How the heck do I do that?!"

" _Just slow down!_ " I planted my other foot on the ground, trying to get my bearings as I swerved around angry motorists. I nearly ran over somebody's poodle, the hideous creature barking at me as I barrelled down the road.

"Okay, I think I've got it now," I said, finally driving in a straight line instead of insane zigzags. Now that I was on a straight road, I could _really_ use the suit's power. It was nothing like my sleek, power efficient suits. I could _feel_ the roar of the suit's engines. It was like raising a pet tiger inside of me, one that would destroy me if I lost control for even a second.

Trees and suburbia were replaced by cars and skyscrapers as I entered the inner city, and all of it bled past me as I sped by at subsonic speeds. Until finally….

I came to a screeching halt in the middle of the street after ten minutes of running/driving/skating. There were no cars here. Or at least, none that were still intact. Some of the buildings had big chunks taken out of them, like somebody had been going at them with the world's biggest baseball bat. And standing right in the middle of the world, holding (I kid you not) a giant steel baseball bat the size of an NBA player, was a giant robot.

"What is it with robots and this town nowadays?" I asked, getting into a fighting stance. In the Queen of Hearts Set, I was probably just under six feet tall, but the guy I was facing down was easily twice that, with laser green eyes and the body of Optimus Prime. "Okay big guy, we can do this the easy way, or-" One good, clean swing sent me flying two city blocks. I crashed into a pickup truck, the whole thing exploding in a great ball of fire. I barely understood what was happening. Everything felt fuzzy and blank, like somebody had unscrewed a light bulb in my brain. I could hear people running and screaming in terror around where I hit. I couldn't even blame them for still being there. I mean, they were _two blocks_ away, surely they should have been safe.

"Okay then, guess we're doing things _my_ way," I snarled, pulling myself out of the twisted steel and burning fuel. I dashed towards him again, my thrusters at full power. I leaped up into the air, pulling my fist back for a punch. I hit it in the face, the whole thing's head snapping backwards. "Disappear!" I cried, firing elbow rockets. (Me: "Why do I need _elbow rockets?_ " Gina: "Go watch Pacific Rim. It will make sense.") I flew towards the ground, taking the robot with me as I slammed into asphalt, the robot's head still beneath my fist as it dropped its baseball bat.

I didn't give it a chance to counter, dashing off of its face, spinning in the air before landing, now facing my target. Its arms were up pointing away from its body so it looked like it was stretching.

 _Right, I'm definitely out of its reach now,_ I thought to myself, just before its fists shot out of its arms. Freaking out, I grabbed one of them, just barely catching it, but the second one was still heading towards me. It smashed into me, knocking me off my feet and into a building, my body and the fist smashing through a great big glass office window. I shoved both fists aside so they would carry on, wreaking havoc as they slammed through cubicles, printers and computers, tearing the whole floor apart.

" _Princess, I'm manually controlling your suit's threat detection system,_ " Gina said. " _You can go all out!_ "

"You should have told me that in the first place!" I roared, holding my hands out in front of me. I clenched my fists twice; right then left, right then left. "Go get 'em!" Immediately, my big bulky arms opened up, dozens of rocket powered nanobots pouring out of them, flying after the fists. The fists flew out the other side of the building, flying off into the distance, closely followed by my bots. A second later, an explosion rattled the whole building, the sky outside turning red momentarily as the explosion engulfed the space between this building and the next. "Whoa… the nanobots are a lot stronger than before…."

" _Of course! I upgraded those too!_ "

"With this, I can beat anybody!" I turned around and leaped out through the hole I was punched through. The robot was getting up, now handless, while I hit the ground like an anchor, crashing into the asphalt as my dress puffed up and expanded again. "Alright, I'm getting tired of you! Minions, charge!" I could feel my whole suit expanding and opening up, even the panels themselves turning into nanobots and flying towards it. It didn't even get a moment to move as it was engulfed by a swarm of black and red robots, detonating and tearing chunks out of its armour. The robot staggered as the near infinite barrage of explosives darn near disintegrated him. When the bombs were done blowing up, bits of my dress detached themselves, flying towards him as razor sharp knives, slicing it to pieces. By the time my suit was just about stripped bare of all technology, the robot was wobbling on its knees. The only thing I had left was my helmet and my normal (pronounced 'fabulous') clothes.

I walked around it, whistling as I observed my own handiwork.

"Wow. You look like you've _really_ lost weight since we last talked! Have you been going on a diet or something?" I was standing behind it now. I clambered on top of its calf so I was just behind the back of its thigh. With just one finger, I pushed it. The whole thing slowly fell to the ground, falling apart as it made its way to the ground. It clattered to pieces as it hit the road, useful only for scrap metal now.

 _Well, that takes care of my job_ , I said. Realistically, I would have to take care of clean-up duty as well, or at least group together all of the scrap to make it easier, but the few bits of my suit that returned to me (shoulder pads, shin guards, a breastplate… I looked more like a samurai than I did a queen) didn't look like they would help me do that much. I turned around and begin the long walk to school (okay, the mall) when I heard something that sounded like slow clapping. I looked back over my shoulder and over the rubble to see a lone man, standing in front of my mess and slowly clapping his hands as if doing it slowly somehow made him cooler.

"Well done. Well done indeed. I have to say, I am thoroughly impressed."

"Who are you?" I asked, unsure of where he even came from.

"That, and any other questions you have, will be taken care of shortly after I reimburse you for your troubles. In fact, why don't we sit down a while, have a chat. And of course, let us discuss business…."

 **I'd like to say thank you to Asuki-sama (She's got a bunch of different fanfic you might wanna check out, including two Powerpuff Girls ones, and they were well written and everything too! I'll drop a review on 'My Lucky Stars' at some point since I forgot to do that, but I recommend you check her out!) and Zenaku2000 ("Wild Force, Power Rangers [We'll protect this world forever]" I know they've got a godzilla/gravity falls crossover which sounds like pure madness so maybe I should check it out?) for the fave and follows! I can't believe that somebody would actually follow and fave my strange little story in this fandom! It really does motivate me! Anyway, I will (hopefully) see you all next week!**


	6. SIGN THE DOTTED LINE TO SELL YOUR SOUL

**REEEEBOOORRRN! (Cue _Katekyo Hitman Reborn's_ Dying Will theme music) I've returned _just_ in time to update this! (Checks the date, sees I'm two days late)... ... ... Umm... I've returned on Sunday, like expected! I had a lot of fun and it was awesome and I got to see one of my friends who I haven't seen in a while. Yes I have friends even though I'm lonely enough to write Powerpuff Girls fanfic. (Apparently writing Powerpuff fanfic isn't the quickest way to make friends... Who knew?) Regardless, I'm still _itching_ to get back to writing because I've been on a story writing drought for the past week! I'm just lucky that this was already finished or else I would be updating tomorrow! So yeah, I can now force my time into this.**

 **On a side note, I'm also trying to learn how to make games with Unity and stuff. Apart from being bored, I don't like saying "oh, I can never do that because I'm not good enough" or "I haven't been taught" or whatever stupid excuse I've got. Where I live is a black hole when it comes to this kind of stuff so I never really thought about it, but who cares! I've got the internet. I've got my laptop. I could use Scratch, I'm pretty sure I can use Unity! So little by little, I'm teaching myself to code and program and other IT stuff! It's... hard. It's like learning how to write a story for computers from the beginning... It's demotivating struggling to make a game of ping pong when I have this cool tactical RPG fan game in my head centred around the Powerpuff Girls... I'll get there eventually... But until then...**

 **CHAPTER 6: JUST SIGN THE DOTTED LINE TO SELL YOUR SOUL**

"Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks."

"How about some coffee?"

"I'm _twelve_."

"Of course, my apologies."

I was sitting in a rather lavish office room, on one side of a big Oakwood desk, my helmet's ear piece turned off so I didn't have to deal with Gina asking where I was. The man I was talking to was sitting opposite it, in a far more comfortable chair, with gloriously soft looking red cushions. While I was still wearing my normal clothes (and a choice selection of the most fashionable armour accessories apparently), he was dressed in a perfectly fitted grey suit with a red button down shirt beneath it.

His blond hair would have been flawless if it wasn't slicked back with so much hair gel. His face looked like it was digitally rendered to be digitally perfect with digitally perfect teeth and digitally perfect green eyes that had a digital glitch that could only be corrected with digitally square glasses. They sat neatly on top of his head as if he couldn't be bothered to actually use them.

The wallpaper was red with a golden flora design, and the carpet was red and cold as well. Various bits and bobs were scattered around the room and on the desk, such as the globe, skull shaped coffee mug (comfortably converted to a pencil holder), one of those creepy anatomical models of a human with their intestines showing (it stayed awkwardly in the corner, glaring at me as I entered the room), and the stuff that you'd expect an office to have in another corner such as a printer, a cabinet, and computer. It was like a lavish cross between a doctor's room, the Principal's office, and a lounge.

"You do realise that I'm supposed to be at school, right?"

"Of course, but if you're out here saving the day instead, then surely you prepared to have some time cut out of your schedule. Regardless, I do apologise for the inconvenience."

"Yeah, that's great and all, but who exactly are you?" I felt like that was a pretty important question. Just a few moments after he found me and asked me to follow him, a bunch of weird SWAT team looking guys arrived on the scene, clearing away what was left of the robot with alarming speed. Those guys definitely weren't from Townsville, that much I was sure of.

"Ah, of course, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Grin Hardly. You may call you Grin if you wish."

"I asked who you are, not your name, Mr. Hardly." Mr. Hardly's lip twitched a little. I wasn't sure if he wanted to smile or snarl at me.

"Very well. I'm the CEO of the Digital Age Media Group, or D.A.M.G, among other things. We're a Media Company that has recently taken an interest in Townsville as having potential for a new, unheard of phenomenon. A chance to let the world acknowledge the heroic acts and deeds of individuals such as yourself."

"Okay. Can you just drop me off at school? I'm going to miss all my afternoon classes."

"Do not worry, I will personally drop you off afterwards to make up for the lost time. I just want you to listen to what I have to say, that's all."

"If this isn't worth it, my Daddy knows a _lot_ of scary people," I said, with a slight dash of careless innocence, as if I didn't even understand those consequences myself. Of course, we all knew it was an act. I was slowly losing my levels of amusement, and letting me get bored was a dangerous idea to people trying to give me a proposition.

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure you will find my offer _very_ intriguing. Anyway, us here at the D.A.M.G have been keeping up with the activities that go on in Townsville. The city that used to have one of the highest crime rates in the entire country, has found its crime rates dropping dramatically over the years, and that is in no small part due to 'The Powerpuff Girls'. That is the official report at least, but that doesn't explain the full story.

"While successful and small scale crimes have become less frequent, monsters, freaks, specialists, and individuals with uncanny abilities and absurd Threat Levels have only become more common in recent years. You could say that the Powerpuff Girls have become a melting pot for chaos and calamity, an effect that I'm sure none of them are happy with having on the town. Because of this, their efforts for peace and justice may go unrewarded to the citizens that they love."

"I'm going to go now-"

"I want to start a reality programme of sorts," he said, interrupting me before I could get up and puke over his at his blatant Powerpuff fanboyisms.

"A reality TV programme," I said, a blank expression on my face.

"Nothing like what you're expecting. Perhaps, think of it more as a sports league, but instead of football or baseball, we'll be covering heroes and their heroic deeds. We think with how many super villains inhabit Townsville, it would make it easier on this town's heroes if they were at least well and truly acknowledged, or if there were more of them fighting against the forces of evil."

"If they were acknowledged? The people _love_ them! They practically have their own fan clubs!"

" _They_ do, but what about you?" That made me pause for a second, but I had to make sure that I was hearing this correctly.

"What are you suggesting?" I asked.

"Well, this town only acknowledges three heroes, but there are clearly more, such as yourself. I witnessed that today. Wouldn't you like the town to see you for who you really are? To learn who their _true_ great defender is, instead of devoting all their attention to a lucky few? Don't you want them to see the sacrifice, love and dedication you put into your work?" _Love_? _Dedication_? Those weren't words I heard to describe me a lot.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Of course I do. You're Princess Morbucks, are you not? I have heard many things about you, but it's only today that I've seen you in action myself. To think that somebody as small and young as yourself would challenge something like _that_!"

"I am the great Princess Morbucks. That piece of junk is nothing to me!"

"Of course. And that's why I'm giving you an offer. This is the first time we've ever tried something like this. We don't know how the people of Townsville will take it. Obviously, I'm a little bit nervous about this, not to mention the other investors. I feel like the people of Townsville will be more receptive if they can see in us a… familiar face. You know what I mean?"

"So what, you want to brand yourselves with the Powerpuff Girls?" He shook his head.

"Not in the slightest. Too generic. We want _you_! We want you to be our mascot for our first season."

"Me? But… how does this 'show' of yours work anyway?"

"Our show's format will be a kind of superhero Grand Prix. All of the heroes in the city compete with each other to see who can get the most 'hero' points for saving the day. Heroic actions like saving lives or defeating the bad guy will grant you hero points. Speed, efficiency, style, and popularity all factor into it as well, and whoever has the most hero points by the end of the season will be named 'True Defender of Townsville'. They will also receive various benefits for their service of course, which can all be viewed in our terms and conditions."

"So you want to get one obedient hero who will guaranteed be your lapdog before the games even begin? Why would I agree to that?"

"Well, I wouldn't say you're our _lapdog_ … all you're doing is representing us. And I would _never_ ask this of you if you didn't gain something as well. That's bad business practice." He opened up a drawer in his desk, pulling out a big contract and placed it in front of me.

"As the advertising representative of the D.A.M.G, you will not only receive a pay check appropriate to your position regardless of age, but will gain access to various perks such as: sponsored equipment, discounts on various D.A.M.G products, a hero workshop designed to hone your skills, free membership to any local gym of your choice, and others that can be negotiated. In return, the advertising representative must submit to all televised appearances of our choosing—commercials included, using company provided sponsored equipment and costumes when fighting crime, and allow merchandise to be created by the D.A.M.G based off of you, such as toys, collectibles, fashion lines, cereal, and others. Do these seem fair to you?"

I knew the look in his eyes. It was the look I had when I'd gotten somebody hooked on something, usually by introducing them to a fat wad of cash. But the money didn't sell me. No, I already had enough of that. But the thought of them making toys and clothes and merchandise based off of _me_! Can you imagine it? Entering Townsville and the first thing you see is my beautiful face on a billboard, beaming down at you with my million dollar smile? Or waking up in the morning and eating a bowl of diabolically sweet Princess Pops? Or maybe going shopping to buy Morbucks brand designer jeans?

The only problem: working for a shady company I knew nothing about.

But the longer I thought about it, the more tempting the offer sounded. But it also made me even more suspicious of these guys. How did I know that they were the real deal? What if there was something sketchy in the fine print that I didn't notice before? What would I do then?

Mr. Hardly handed me the pen and the contract, pointing at the dotted line. I gripped it between my fingers, looking at the ominous piece of paper in front of me. I twirled the pen nervously, still debating it in my head.

"Mr. Hardly, I well and truly appreciate the offer." I took a deep breath, and let it out through my nose. I gave him my answer.

* * *

"So what did you say?" Saffron asked.

We were strolling down the street on our way to grab some ice cream. Normally I would insist on travelling by limo, but it wasn't becoming to constantly travel alongside a commoner like Saffron…. That, and the last time I tried to suggest it, she adamantly refused. Supposedly she thought I was making fun of her, showing up everywhere by extravagant modes of transportation while she arrived as stylishly as you could in public transport (which was not very stylish to say the least). So on our way to the greatest ice cream parlour on earth, I described my encounter with Mr. Hardly.

"What do you think? He was just another shifty businessman who thinks that they run the world because they've made a few lucky breaks. Not to mention that his morals are questionable at best."

"Oh, yeah, _this_ coming from your royal highness, the princess of the Morbucks estate."

"Exactly! He could learn a thing or two from us! I mean, he tried to get a _child_ to sign a legally binding contract. I didn't even have a legal parent or guardian around! I mean, come _on_ , he could go to court for something like that!"

"Well, at least you called him out on his sketchiness and dodged that deal." I stopped in my tracks. It was almost like there was super glue stuck to the bottom of my feet. Saffron looked at me in confusion. "Princess? Did I say something wrong?"

I didn't even bother looking at her, or registering that she said anything. I had something else to focus on other than her. It took Saffron a second to realise what it was.

Standing right in front of me, complete with their matching dresses, were Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. The Powder Puff Girls themselves.

"Blossom," I said, trying not to grind my teeth.

"Princess," she replied, keeping her tone even.

"Hi Princess!" Bubbles yelled cheerfully. Buttercup didn't really look particularly interested, keeping her arms folded and looking away.

"So, what brings the Powerpuff Girls to this corner of Townsville?" I asked. "Don't you have a _job_ to be doing? You know, saving cats from trees, helping old ladies cross the street… hey, maybe actually _saving_ Townsville instead of destroying it!"

"You're one to talk, Princess," Blossom replied, still as serene as a pool of water. "You've willingly endangered too many lives for you to tell _us_ about doing our job." Did I mention that pool of water had thunderclouds over it?

"Whether it's willing or not isn't important. At the end of the day, it's the result that matters. Remember the Dynamo incident?"

"We were _five_. And we still got rid of the bigger threat."

"And the greater part of Townsville…."

"Hey!" Buttercup interjected. "If you're gonna talk trash about us, why don't you _prove_ that you're better! Every time that you've been a 'hero', you've either been knocked out or got your suit destroyed. Last I checked, both happened at the same time!"

"Oh yeah? Well I'll have you know that I'm new, and _greatly_ improved from the last time we fought! In fact, I bet I could beat you all by myself."

"Put your money where your mouth is and prove it to me, frizz ball!"

"F-frizz ball?" I touched my hair in horror after her ridiculous insult. I was actually very proud of my lovingly (and often sternly) maintained 4B hair. I'd done it up in a ponytail instead of to the sides to shake it up even! I was just trying to rile her up at first, but after that insult, it was personal! Luckily for her, something more important caught my eye.

We were standing just in front of an electronics store, one of those ones that have TVs lined up in the window, turned on to demonstrate their vibrant high definition colours. I don't know what they were tuned to at first, but I definitely recognised what they were showing now.

They'd switched to some kind of commercial, but it was none I'd ever seen on TV before.

" _Your city's in peril_ ," a voice fit for a movie trailer said, a decrepit black and white town appearing on the screen. " _Your lives are all at stake. All you work for and love is in peril. Everything you care for is in more danger than ever before_." The images on screen changed at every pause, showing scenes of violence, robberies, riots and protests, and an image of what looked like somebody freaking out over absurd taxes.

" _Why wait for a hero to save you, when you can save yourself? Why wait when_ you _can be the hero,_ you _can protect your town, and_ you _can_ _ **save the day!**_ " The scene exploded, getting replaced by the most fabulous superhero I'd ever seen. She was dressed completely in aquamarine armour, with brand names and logos all over it. _Pepsi_ , _Colgate_ , _Toyota_ , _Universal_ , and a bunch of other logos were slapped all over her shoulders, biceps, thighs, stomach and back. She did a little twirl and struck a pose, one hand on her hip and the other clenched in a fist in front of her.

" _Coming to Townsville is the first, and the greatest,_ **Hero Grand Prix!** " The image of the girl disappeared, getting replaced by various scenes of this girl fighting monsters and beating up burglars, along with the occasional training montage, flying around an army of robot dummies gracefully, destroying them one by one.

The others were completely dumbstruck. Their jaws were hanging wide open. I bet if a fly decided to make its home inside Buttercup's dumb looking mouth, she wouldn't even notice. I figured the TV was more important than them, so I turned my attention back to it.

" _Brought to you by the D.A.M.G, tune in with us as we chronicle the rise of our generation's greatest heroes as they fight crime and the forces of evil, all for the distinguished honour of becoming_ The King of Heroes! _So, Townsville, are you ready for the meteor that is the Hero Grand Prix?! Coming to a television near you, on Hero TV!_ " The screens snapped to images of various superheroes doing various superhero things and striking poses: Major Man, Vallhallen, even the Powerpuff Girls, before going blank, getting replaced by something about golf.

Everybody was speechless.

I shouldn't have been surprised. I mean, witnessing a _real_ hero on screen representing the D.A.M.G must have been a serious shock for them.

"Princess," Saffron said slowly.

"Yes my dear assistant?" She didn't even flinch at the title.

"You said you refused to sign that guy's contract?"

"Of course I did."

"So why are you on TV looking like a blue walking advertisement?"

"Isn't that obvious? I got Daddy to sign it instead." She stared at me, her expression unreadable. Surely _she_ of all people would be impressed, right? I was going to be a hero for _real_ , not just a pretender who worries about dogs barking at her when she flies through the skies. She should have been happy, right?

"What the heck is this?!" Buttercup yelled.

"Some kind of competition?" Bubbles asked. "Ooh, does that mean we're going to be on TV?"

"No, Bubbles, and it doesn't matter anyway! This looks like a joke! Being a hero isn't about entertaining a crowd or making a big show or anything, it's about beating the bad guys and saving the day!"

"Oh really?" I began, whirling on her before I could think more about Saffron's reaction. "Because I was sure that you three were always sucking up to the people of Townsville, flying around everywhere and being all lovable even _if_ the bad guy gets away. You're more like mascots than heroes."

"Says the girl who signed herself up to be some company's Barbie doll!"

"Guys, stop," Blossom said. Buttercup folded her arms with a 'humph' but didn't say anything else. I dug my hands in my pockets and stared at Blossom, trying not to smile smugly as Buttercup was muzzled by her 'leader'. "Princess, what exactly is going on?"

"Weren't you paying attention? All of our 'heroic deeds' are gonna be recorded on TV from now on, and not by the news either. We'll be live on 'Hero TV', all competing to be the best hero in Townsville. The more heroic we are, the better."

"Maybe you need a reminder that you're a hero, but we definitely don't. We're heroes. We save the day whether there's anybody watching or not. We don't need to be on TV to prove it. C'mon guys, let's go."

Right after making a speech about not caring about looking cool or flashy, they flew off into the air, leaving behind a crowd of awestruck citizens. Bubbles looked back and gave us a small wave before shooting off after her siblings. Show offs.

"You're just saying that because you're already popular and everyone loves you!" I yelled back at them, even as they became pinpricks in the distance. "How do you think _I_ feel, knowing I have to _earn_ everybody's trust instead of having it fall in my lap?!"

"Princess," Saffron began, even as I (obviously) ignored her.

"I'll show you… I'll show everybody! I'll become the best hero in Townsville! I'll be so good, that everybody will realise that they don't need you anymore! I'll replace you, I'll be the new and improved Powerpuff Girl!"

"Princess, they're gone."

"I know that! You better be listening with your super hearing or something! I'll become the best there is in the business, you hear? The best you've ever seen! Then, _then_ you'll learn not to look down on _me_ , Princess Morbucks!"

* * *

 **Yet again, thank you Meeptastic (Meepless, in Seattle!), this time for following and favouriting! Even though it does happen every couple of chapters, it's still surprising to see faves and follows. Like... I dunno, this isn't exactly what most people look for when they hunt for Powerpuff Girls fic. I guess being unique gives it bonus points and being legible gives it a few more, but it's still weird! So, I'm out for now! See you all next Friday! Well, hopefully next Friday. My update schedule has been thrown totally out of whack...**


	7. ROUND 1, ME VERSUS THE KILLER CROC

**Gah! I'm sorry about the delay everybody! I just CANNOT catch a break, can I? I'm sorry about uploading this late! My schedule has been tossed everywhere lately and even now I'm still pretty busy with all sorts of stuff so I can't sit down and actually WRITE the way I want to! As a result, I can't actually include all of the dedications or whatever right now. I'll correct it on Monday I guess. Anyway, enjoy!**

 **CHAPTER 7: ROUND 1, ME VERSUS THE KILLER CROC!**

"So, I've nearly finished on repairs to the Fibre-o-tomic."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Luckily, the hardware can take quite a hit, but apparently the shock of the fight was enough to corrupt all of its previous combat data and its evaluation systems, so you can't use your contacts for any kind of scans, or anything really."

"Uh huh."

"Backing up your combat data should be pretty easy, but I'm not that great with software so you'll have to fix the evaluation system yourself."

"Okay."

"Oh yeah, and I've been addressing the problem of the Queen of Hearts' re-usability and how vulnerable you are after attacking, and I think I've made some serious improvements!"

"That's great."

"And… Princess, are you even listening?"

"Yup."

"Sure you are…."

I'm not sure how long Gina had been talking for, or even what exactly she was saying. For the past week, she'd been working on my weapons practically non-stop, trying to fix and fine tune them. Honestly, if she just left it to the professionals, they would all be done already, but she said she really wanted to understand them first. That, and she was pretty bored anyway.

"Things have been slow lately, haven't they?" she said, even as she pulled out some kind of blueprints from her bag and unrolled them on the cafeteria table. With how gross the cafeteria was in general, I was amazed she could even focus without gagging.

"Yeah, I guess business is slow," I lied. I'd actually been busier than ever, but I couldn't let Gina know that….

"It's really annoying. I can't improve it if I don't see practical data on _where_ to improve. There's only so much that simulations can do for you…. Hey, what's up with that anyway? The Powerpuffs are still doing their thing, saving the day, so why haven't _you_ had any action in so long?"

She clearly didn't know that I _had_ been seeing action, and a lot of it. It's just that… _she_ hadn't. I was going to make up some random excuse on the spot when the cafeteria went silent, an urgent and all-too-familiar beeping interrupting everybody. Mounted against the wall was a red and white rotary telephone with a stupid looking smiley face on it. It looked old and archaic, and its red 'nose' in the centre of the keypad was flashing red. I—stealthily—pulled out my own phone. My watch hadn't started ringing yet, but if anything was happening, my phone would still update me immediately.

I heard the sharp flashing sound of a Powerpuff flying and answering the phone at supersonic speed. My screen had just finished loading the pages when I heard Blossom barking orders at her sisters. I looked up just in time to catch them flying up, blasting straight through the ceiling as they headed off for the giant monster that was plaguing Townsville.

"Something is happening," Gina said. I could see her getting more excited with every passing moment. "I know you don't like working with the Powerpuffs, but maybe this once…."

"Thanks, but no thanks," I replied. "I won't lower myself to their level. Now excuse me, I have to go." I got up too, and paced towards the door, leaving Gina behind to deal with both of our trays.

When I was outside in the playground and I was sure she wasn't following me, I held up my wristwatch, pushing a blue button on it. I could feel my shoes heating up as they revealed their true nature as jet boots. I gripped my awesome blue scarf and tugged it, the whole thing transforming into a helmet, complete with a silver visor and tiara with a glowing ruby in the middle. My boots were starting up with the sound of a jet engine. The Powerpuffs already had a head start. There was no way I was gonna catch up to them. But this suit was nothing to sneeze at either. I would find them before they'd even gotten halfway through the fight.

I shot into the air, my clothes tearing themselves to pieces, revealing a shiny new power suit beneath them. It was just like my golden upgrade to the fibre-o-tomic-omic, but this was aquamarine, and covered in logos from various sponsors, and supposedly _way_ stronger. Mr. Hardly called it the 'Damage Suit'—spelt 'DAMG' because the guy is full of himself _and_ his company—and according to him, it could even stop a bullet from a rifle.

"'Work with the Powerpuffs….' Ha!" I laughed dryly. "I never planned to _work_ with them, I planned to show them up! And this time, I'll be able to do just that!"

. . .

I arrived at the scene of the crime! And let me tell you, things were _not_ looking good for the _Powder puff Squad_.

In the middle of the city, swinging around a water tower like it was a baseball bat, was a giant monster freaky enough to make even _me_ do a double take on whether this was a good profession.

Its skin was green and as rough as an alligator, and its snout added to the look if you ignored the fact that jets of emerald fire were coming out of its nostrils like some kind of energy moustache. Instead of ridges on its back and claws, it had glowing razor sharp spines the size of freight trains and suspiciously red claws bigger than buses. Did I mention that this thing was almost two hundred feet tall? Honestly, how do these creatures even sneak into Townsville in the first place? I'd expect someone to spot them miles in advance!

Anyway, it was busy bathing the town in fire and swinging around this massive water tower like it was his profession. The Powerpuffs were flying around it as multicoloured specks of light, but it didn't look like they were doing any real damage to it.

"Buttercup, you take it from the front," Blossom commanded. "Bubbles, you and I are gonna flank it. Got it?"

"Got it!"

The three all split up, Blossom and Bubbles flying to the sides while Buttercup charged straight for it.

Buttercup tackled it in its chest, forcing it backwards across the streets as it futilely tried to stop itself. They finally stopped when they slammed into a skyscraper. Buttercup didn't let up for a second, pounding it down with a flurry of blindingly fast blows. Every hit sounded like thunder, but the monster didn't seem to really notice, just glaring at her in annoyance. It swatted her like a fly, blowing up his water tower and sending Buttercup crashing through a building, brick and mortar falling all around her in a thundering crash. She came out the other side… then crashed through another building… then another… then another…. By the time she hit the ground, four buildings either had gaping holes in them or were going down.

"Leave her alone!" Bubbles screamed, hovering right next to the monster's face. She screamed, her voice visibly distorting the air, windows shattering around her. The monster held its claws up to its head, trying desperately to block out the sound while Blossom flew to the ground, assisting her sister.

Eventually, the monster wised up, turning to Bubbles and opening its mouth. Green jets of fire coming out of its maw. Bubbles tried to block, but her arms and knees weren't much help against fire. She screamed as the flames engulfed her, dropping out of the sky with smoke still coming off of her.

She hit the ground like a rock, making a small crater as she landed right next to her siblings.

"Bubbles, are you alright?" Blossom asked.

"Yeah… it's tougher than it looks!"

"Like it didn't _already_ look tough," Buttercup moaned. "What're we meant to do against this thing?"

Blossom looked around, probably for anything that could help, but there wasn't much but wrecked buildings, an upturned tanker, some shattered cars, and the remains of the water tower.

"Well, it's a giant reptile, right? And considering our surroundings… I'm getting an idea…."

Whatever it was, it didn't look like she was going to get a chance to use it. The monster opened its mouth, an inferno brewing within as it headed towards the Powerpuffs.

If there was ever a time to make a heroic entrance, _this_ was it, with the Powerpuffs small and helpless, wide eyed in terror as they stared up at the threat before them!

I was still high up in the clouds, relatively safe compared to the girls. Flying alongside me was a big blue _Hero TV_ helicopter, probably reporting for the show. I gave them my most adorable smile as I waved at them before diving down, heading straight for the ground as the Powerpuffs shut their eyes, accepting their fate.

I landed just in front of them, desperately holding my palms out in front of me.

The flames engulfed us all.

What did it look like? Well, a little bit like I was watching a Michael Bay movie. There was red and green and orange and a bunch of other bright colours. I could hear the flames burning all around us and the screams of the fleeing townspeople. I could—unfortunately—smell the melting asphalt, the sticky choking substance acrid in my throat and nostrils. Sometimes, I could just barely make out a few bits of metal, some broken pipes and wires, and a couple of buildings. Most of the time, however, it was just fire everywhere.

As suddenly as it came, the fire died down. I was left standing in front of the Powerpuffs, their eyes probably still shut. Surrounding us was a purple dome of energy, sparks of lightning leaping off of its surface.

" _Your vitals are all in perfect condition, Princess_ ," a woman's voice said over my suit's speakers. It had a slight British accent and was a little halting, but it was definitely better quality than whatever microphone Gina usually used, even if it still sounded electronic. " _The shield deflected ninety eight percent of the damage, and is still stable. You have plenty of energy to spare._ "

"Uh… right. Thanks Alice," I said. I still wasn't really getting used to the AI fitted into my new suit.

"Princess? Is that you?" Bubbles asked. I turned around to face her, failing to suppress the giddy smile on my face.

"Of course! Did you _see_ that? That guy was going to fry you guys and then I swooped down out of the sky like _whoosh_ and, and, and it hit me but I put up my shield and it was so cool!" They were staring at me as if I had just landed from Mars. Well… that was embarrassing. Gina was starting to rub off on me. I straightened up and cleared my throat. "Well, I showed up just in time for a stunning heroic entrance. What do you think?"

"I think you should scram," Buttercup grumbled.

"Oh really? After I just saved all of you?"

"No, really, you should get out."

Before I could make any sense out of what she said, all three Powerpuffs scattered. I was wondering why until I saw the shadow growing around me. I looked up and saw the monster's foot right overhead, about to slam down on my pretty little head.

With an embarrassing squeal, I dashed out of there, dodging its massive scaly toes by centimetres. I went spiralling into the air before somehow, my suit corrected itself. It was probably Alice recalibrating my jet pack for me.

I looked up at the monstrosity as it let out a deafening roar, the voice reverberating inside my bones. Despite all my talk of glamour and heroics, I wasn't feeling so brave now that we were face to face. It could probably use Daddy's mansion as a dollhouse.

"C'mon girls, we need to get this thing out of here!" Blossom commanded, the three of them flying through the sky.

"Hey, wait for me!" I cried, flying after them. As scared as I felt, I was _not_ going to be outdone by _those_ brats!

I caught up to them in a cyan streak of light instead of their red blue and green.

"Princess, what are _you_ doing here?" Buttercup yelled. "This is way too big for a brat like you. Literally!"

"Yeah Princess, you could get seriously hurt," Bubbles added, probably faking the concern in her voice.

"Don't look down on me! I'm a hero too now, I'm qualified!"

"Are you qualified to dodge?"

"What-" I slammed straight into the monster's palm, getting sent spiralling through the air again. I corrected myself before I could fall, trying to shake the dizziness out of me. Bubbles and Buttercup were busy giggling like complete morons at my blunder, and I was pretty sure Blossom was going to join them.

"Stop laughing!" I screamed. I glared at the monster who was busy slashing through a skyscraper and randomly roaring (seriously, these guys need new hobbies). I imagined this going a lot better in my head. Sure, I hated the Powerpuff Girls with every ounce of my being, but getting to fight alongside them? Well… don't tell anybody this, but it sounded _really_ cool. I could hear the inner five year old inside me squealing about finally becoming a Powerpuff! And yet here I was, getting embarrassed in front of them by a two thousand ton terror. Just to make things worse, that _Hero TV_ copter was still in the air, recording it all live. "This is all _your_ fault!" I roared. I pointed my palms at the monster, charging them with power.

" _Princess, my analysis concludes that your attack will_ -"

"Shut up!" I fired a massive thunderbolt from my hands, the lightning slamming into its nose with the boom of thunder. It roared in pain, and its nose looked slightly blackened, but otherwise, it didn't seem harmed.

"… _have zero effect on the monster._ "

"Geez, you tell me this _now?_ "

Apparently, monsters don't understand that you have to wait your turn when somebody's having a conversation, because it slashed me with its claws, sending me plummeting to the ground like a meteor. I was _so_ lucky I was wearing this power suit because it would have slashed me clean in half, but even with it, there was no protecting me from a blow that felt like a high speed car crash.

I fell to the earth, the world spinning around me in a curiously colourful pinwheel. It almost looked mesmerising… until everything ground to a painful halt as I hit the ground.

I'm not sure how, but I think I exploded as I landed, tarmac and cement rising ten feet in the air in0 big geysers of fire and a blast of sound almost loud enough to rupture my eardrums. The chaos died down, revealing that I was in the middle of a crater in the corner of a skyscraper, resting up against the building's foundation.

My head was pounding, my stomach hurt, and my back felt like somebody had slapped it with a big metal stick. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. I could barely even _think_. I was doing everything I could just to stay conscious and not cry out in pain.

" _I diverted all available power to defence and life support systems. You are not in critical condition, but your body is disoriented. You have sustained minor head injuries, possibly a concussion, and a sprained wrist_."

"I… I was slammed into a skyscraper… and all I got was a sprained wrist?"

I looked up groggily at the fighting above. I couldn't hear what was happening. My suit was fit with a directional mic, so I turned my head ever so slightly so that I was looking at Blossom. Suddenly, I could hear them as clear as day.

"Buttercup, use the Black Tornado! Bubbles, Acrobattack!"

Buttercup looked like somebody had told her she could keep a puppy.

"Really? I can use it?!"

"Go to town, Buttercup!"

The trio all flew to the ground. Blossom and Bubbles cartwheeled through the torn up streets, domes of energy building up around them while Buttercup sprinted ahead of them, turning the ground beneath her feet to mush. She charged straight through the damaged oil tanker, smashing straight through it and into its centre. She flew out of it, oil trailing behind her, and began spinning in circles, a gigantic tornado of oil and molten tar spinning with her until the tornado grew even taller than the monster.

Not even that hideous creature could do anything against it, getting sucked into the tornado and launched straight into the air. The oil kept on catching fire around its face every time it breathed out so it looked like bombs were going off in the sky.

Before it could start falling, Blossom and Bubbles launched into the air, kicking the creature in the back, launching it even further into the sky. They flew above it and grabbed it by its toes, then, with roars that shook the whole town, hurled it across the city, high over the tops of buildings. It disappeared behind a whole standing army of buildings in the same direction as the beach. A few seconds after it disappeared, I heard a splash, like it had just been dumped in the ocean. The girls shot after them, disappearing in the distance.

"Wow… the battle's over," I mumbled to myself.

" _I do not understand. The battle has yet to reach a conclusion._ "

"Maybe to you, but I figured out Blossom's plan. That thing's like a giant crocodile. It's cold blooded. Cold blooded creatures have no control over their body temperature, so if you freeze them they shut down, so it's only weakness was Blossom's ice breath. But generating enough ice to freeze it would probably turn the whole of Townsville into an ice block. But at the beach? There's already a whole world full of water. All she has to do is trap it in the water and turn it into a giant Popsicle, then she can do whatever she wants to it."

" _Impressive strategy. Blossom is indeed a formidable strategist_."

"She's a Powerpuff Girl. Of _course_ she's formidable."

" _You are no slouch yourself, having deciphered all of that even while suffering head injuries._ "

"Wow, I'd be _so_ flattered if you weren't programmed to make me feel good." I thought that I could feel my toes again, so I forced myself to stand up. I was stumbling and staggering everywhere. I couldn't even walk in a straight line, and my vision felt blurry. A crowd had gathered, crawling out from within the building and whatever other hiding places they could find. A little girl with a Yankees baseball cap was staring at me with a stupid looking expression on her face. I don't know why, but the sight of her was making me mad.

"What are _you_ looking at?" I snarled. She pulled up a small camera and snapped a picture of me. I must have looked like somebody pulled me through a wind tunnel while I was on fire. The brat was lucky I felt too tired to smack her upside the head.

I looked at the battered water tower in front of me. All of that unnecessary, absurdly expensive damage was all our faults. If the Powerpuff Girls knew _anything_ about being a hero, they would take some responsibility.

"Alice, can I fix it?" I asked.

" _You cannot completely restore it, but you can perform some makeshift repairs to at least make it operational until professionals can replace it._ "

"Good enough." Slowly so as not to jar anything, I floated towards the water tank. Even though just moving hurt, the suit was still reinforcing my body. I picked up the water tank, carrying it up towards its original resting place. It was mainly made out of metal, with broken piping everywhere. That made my job a thousand times easier.

I slammed it back into its original position, heating up my gloves until they were hot enough to melt metal and slowly welding it together, even flying down and retrieving as many pieces of torn apart water tower and slapping them back into place. It took me almost ten minutes before my handiwork was done. It was lopsided and didn't have a lot of water left, but Alice told me it only had a five percent chance of falling down and killing anybody… in the next seven days.

"Not my problem anymore," I said, resigning myself as I made the slow and unheroic flight back home. If there was anything else I could have done, I didn't even want to think about it. All I wanted right then was to pass out in my bed.

. . .

I wanted to just fly into my bedroom window, crawl up to my room, and ask Conan to make me a cup of tea so I could peacefully sip on it before going to bed. Unfortunately, my suit barely had the strength to fly higher than a few metres, so I had to use the front door. If that didn't already suck, I had to find an army of reporters and paparazzi waiting at the gate leading to my house, even after the sun had dropped out of the sky. Luckily, they were on one side of the gate while I flew overhead. Unluckily, I ran out of power just then, falling to the ground right in front of them, only separated by a thin metal gate.

They were taking pictures and yelling over each other constantly, snapping dazzling pictures that burned my eyes and assaulting me with words.

"Princess Morbucks, how does it feel to be the face of Hero TV?"

"Princess Morbucks, are you aware of the fact that you have dropped two places in Heroism and one in popularity?"

"Princess, can you give us any comments about your crushing defeat at the hands of the killer croc?"

"Are you humiliated about the Powerpuffs defeating an enemy that you could not?"

"Haven't you claimed that you're stronger than your average Powerpuff Girl?"

"Are you going to continue your heroic acts even after being annihilated by a monster?"

"Princess, please speak to us!"

"Princess, I have a question…."

"Princess!"

"Princess!"

"Princess!"

" _Go away!_ "

I tore down the garden pathway to the front door, forever grateful for the gate keeping the paparazzi out, and trying to block out their questions and jeers, blocking the insults.

I pulled myself through my front door, barely able to move, my heart still racing from my encounter with them. I could still hear them babbling their stream of questions at the gate. I felt cold and miserable. I was sure that I was developing a flu. I know I was meant to treat my suit like it was made of solid gold, but right then and there, I just did not care. I tore off my helmet and flung it to the ground. Alice was definitely going to chastise me about it later, but what was she going to do, disable my Twitter?

I dragged my feet through the front hall and into the lounge. I froze on the spot.

Blossom's ice breath would have had less of an effect than the scene before me.

Daddy was actually home, sitting on his purple lounge chair in front of the fireplace. His chair was tilted so he was hidden behind the chair's back, so I could only see his hands holding up a newspaper.

"Ah, you've returned," he said. Normally I would at least _pretend_ to be happy to see him, but he actually _spoke_. Daddy didn't like using his words. When he did… well, it was usually a bad sign.

"Yes Daddy," I said. "School was longer than expected, and there was a monster attack along the way-"

"That you got involved in?" Silence. "I'm always happy to see you amusing yourself with your little 'superhero' game, but I hope you understand the dangers that you are facing."

"Yes Daddy."

"Endangering your life for the sake of such a silly notion? Preposterous. There's no need to do such a thing when you can buy a thousand different comforts from within the safety of your home. Understood?"

"Yes Daddy…."

"Besides, if you are going to insist upon these actions, then you shall then be fighting on behalf of the Morbucks name. Embarrassing me in front of the whole world is hardly a fitting legacy for my child. I expect you to always appear prim and proper when going about your business, like a lady should. You should not appear to be a savage child who associates with the commoners. Appear to me in such a pitiful state again and I shall revoke this freedom from you. Do I make myself clear?" Silence. "Princess." He didn't raise his voice, but it sounded like the edge of a steel blade.

"That's not fair."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm the superhero here. I'm doing this because I want to, not because I'm trying to make you look good." Daddy stood up, towering above me. I was starting to freak out now, and I couldn't even look him in the eye, but if I stopped talking then, I wouldn't have spoken again. "And you signed a legally binding contract, so you can't just stop me like that."

"Oh really? I can make it so no company will ever consider you a worthwhile asset for the next twenty years, and you're going to question how hard it is for me, your legal guardian, to pull you out of a childish agreement? Don't try me. The only reason I signed that foolish agreement was for your happiness, and I can take that happiness from you at a moment's notice."

"Daddy, stop lying! You only signed it when you saw the money that was involved! You hated everything about it until you saw the big fat paycheck that came with it!"

"And? What's so wrong with that? Money grants power, and power is key in this world! You know that as well as I do with your own obsession with the currency."

"Well _I_ don't let my money control me the way you do! The only worth in money is what it can do for you, but _you're_ doing everything just for money on its own, no matter how low you have to sink!"

"If you were older you would understand that your own principles come second to attaining wealth. You think that you're being 'true' to yourself but you're just another powerless idealist!"

"So _you_ have power? Where was that 'power' of yours when you watched Mama die from halfway across the world?!"

The movement was swift, the harsh clap of a hand on flesh echoing in the lonely room, disturbing the peaceful crackling of the fireplace.

I collapsed to the ground, all of the nerves in my face reeling in shock and pain from where he struck me. I gently touched the tender skin, trying to understand what had just happened. The room felt like it was tilting sideways. I was shocked straight into silence as I looked up at Daddy. He seemed to tower over me, this imposing figure with a cold lack of sympathy in his eyes, even as he stared down at his own crying daughter. I didn't know what happened. I could barely remember what we had been arguing about, much less how we ended up on that topic in the first place. All I knew was that I had angered him. That I had somehow said or done something wrong, something _very_ wrong.

I stared up at him, too shocked to even cry out loud, just letting the tears fall in streams as I awaited his next terrible action.

"Don't you _dare_ talk to me about _her_ as if you understand." I wanted to speak. I wanted to say something. I wanted to say she was my Mama too, that I was also hurting, even after years. But I couldn't. I was terrified that I would say something else wrong, and I was also terrified that if I said anything else, Daddy's face would mirror my own.

Instead of slapping me again, he sat back down in his chair, reclining into it like he had never moved an inch.

"Go to your room and don't come out. _Now_." I didn't even try to argue. I slowly stood up and staggered back to my bedroom. I don't know if I was more exhausted from the fighting or from my argument with Daddy. I didn't care either.

I waited until I had closed the door behind me and I couldn't hear anybody else. I flopped onto my bed, and cried.

I cried, and cried, and screamed into my pillow until I felt sick. I hated everyone. I hated everything. I hated the Powerpuffs for stealing the show. I hated the people of Townsville for prying into my life. I hated myself for making Daddy angry and sad, for making him hate me. I wanted to hate him too for being smug and controlling. But as I thought more about it in my self-pity, I realised I hated Mr. Hardly just as much—no, _more_ than everybody else.

If it wasn't for him, I would never have gotten involved in a mess like this. I wouldn't have lost to that monster or gotten embarrassed and beat up. I would never have had the paparazzi following my cataclysmic defeat. It would never have been broadcast to the world, and Daddy wouldn't have seen it. We wouldn't have argued, and I wouldn't have lost one of those increasingly rare days where I can spend time with Daddy. It wasn't fair. Why was everything so miserable? Why couldn't I be happy, or pretend that home was actually _home_?

And the whole time, I was sure that Mr. Hardly was laughing himself half to death as he watched his ratings skyrocket from everybody laughing at my misery on live television.

I cried and screamed and would have hit something too if I didn't feel so tired. I went to bed with angry and bitter thoughts occupying my head. I would have been content if I could have just blacked out, drowning the day behind me as if it never happened.

But of course, that would have been too simple.

. . .

Instead, I was transported across the depths of my psyche (translation for you philistines: I had a dream. Or maybe a nightmare).

I was still in my room, but my body felt like it was made of helium. I was rising through the air, floating almost without control. I desperately tried grabbing onto my bed posts, but my fingers phased right through them. I looked down at the bed, and saw the sleeping figure of _myself_.

There was no mistake, it was _definitely_ me. I had curled into a ball, clutching my pillow tightly, with my angelic hair framed around my head like a halo. I was drooling a little (eww) and my freckled face still looked slightly pockmarked from the bomb explosion in the museum. My expression was twisted in a snarl, like somebody had just insulted my hair.

"W-wait, this is totally not cool! What's happening?" Obviously, I didn't get any answers. Instead, I was pulled up higher, straight through the roof and forced to leave my body behind. The next moment, I was flying at a hundred miles an hour through the night sky, although I had no control over where I was going.

I flew through the air, looking down at the various sleeping houses and villas in my neighbourhood, and then the City of Townsville. I'd flown over the city thousands of times before, but doing it without a suit _really_ got the blood racing. It was a bit like I was being suspended by a giant set of puppet strings, and any moment there would be someone coming to cut them.

I looked up and saw a skyscraper rushing to meet me. I shut my eyes and shielded my face, waiting for me to slam into it like a bug. The crashing of broken glass and shrapnel never came. Instead, I could hear the chatter of a TV screen. I opened my eyes and found myself in G. Hardly's office. Hardly was sitting at his desk, although the lighting was so poor that I would never have recognised him if I hadn't been hanging around him so much lately. It's like his whole face was covered in shadows, with just the lamp on his desk for light. Somebody was standing in front of him, but I couldn't even tell whether that was a man or a woman.

There was one other source of light, and that was a plasma screen TV that was mounted on the wall. How had I _not_ noticed that earlier? I turned towards it and saw a Hero TV recap or something.

" _Wow, the season has just started folks, and already things are looking intense!_ " a glasses clad TV presenter said, although how anybody could actually focus on him when he had such a massive chin and equally ridiculous pompadour was beyond me. Despite his brown suit and glasses, there was an image of a slightly younger version of him at the top left of the screen, squinting without his glasses and wearing a red cape, subtitled 'Major Man, ex hero'. "It's only been two weeks since this season's premiere and already we're seeing the ratings of all the superheroes shift rapidly. At the start of the week, Townsville's latest hero, Princess Morbucks, proved capable of shaking off her villainous past and has managed to apprehend four criminals already. She's also skyrocketed in popularity among our viewers over time."

As he was speaking, images of the past battles I'd been having over the week kept popping up. Normally small time stuff like stopping bank robbers or petty thieves, nothing impressive. Although I had to admit, stopping bullets with my palm was pretty cool!

"But the Powerpuff Girls are still fan favourites in the popularity section, and when it comes to hero points, they've each leaped ahead after their stunning defeat of the giant alligator, changing the landscape of the scoreboard, with Buttercup in first, Blossom and Bubbles tied second, Princess third, Major Glory fourth and Valhallen in fifth." They replayed the match—or I guess fight—highlights, but to me, it looked like a giant blooper reel, with all of my most embarrassing moments, like crashing into the monster or getting slapped like a volleyball straight into the ground. The screen changed so that there were a bunch of people gathered around a table in front of a giant screen written _Hero TV_.

"Thank you for your report, Major Man," a man with greying hair replied. "You know, it's interesting to see that the young star of Hero TV is struggling so much when it comes to the big leagues. Some people are even saying that the DAMG chose the wrong hero to make a-" The TV was abruptly turned off.

I turned around to see Mr. Hardly holding a TV remote, his expression unreadable.

"It seems that the girl can't live up to our expectations," the visitor said, revealing it was a woman who sounded worryingly like Alice.

"What a shame if that's true," Mr. Hardly added. "She has such marketable traits too. The confidence and charisma, appeal, youthful energy and strength… and her past makes it easy to package her as a tragic anti-hero, turning a new leaf for the good of the town. Whatever keeps the people interested."

"So far our ratings and viewership have been exceptionally high. It looks like this town's obsession with superheroes was strong enough to make this gamble worth it. Our tests have also proven that the citizens prefer heroes that are more familiar and relatable. Relics of the past like Valhallen are unpopular and unidentifiable as well as ineffective, but icons like the Powerpuff Girls prove strong enough to make others with a similar style popular, even if they were once bitter enemies, like Princess."

"This is perfect. We won't always have a landscape that's this serene. Now that we've capture the attention of the people, we can't leave things as they are if we want an effective long term plan. I think it's time to add a bit more drama for our viewers. Some more competition. Don't you agree?"

"But of course. I shall go prepare immediately."

"Excellent. This is what I expect from a fellow founding member of Damage." It took me a few seconds to realise that he was taking about the DAMG. I tried to reach out to him, to check if he could even see me, but my whole body felt like it was about to collapse. Before I could do anything, I felt myself being pulled back rapidly the way I came, flying out through the roof and across Townsville, clinging desperately to anything I could hold onto.

Finally, I was back in my room, and I splashed down right into the middle of my body with a shock, slipping out of my waking dream and into the deep void of unconsciousness.


	8. STAY TUNED FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

**STEVEN UNIVERSE IS AWESOME! Sorry, just have to get that out of my system. I have good news, bad news, worse news, then other good news. The good news is that I've finally cleared my schedule(ish) so I can type and update on time again. The bad news is that I don't know for how long. I'm running out of chapters. I predict I'll be able to update once a week every week until chapter 15, then I'll have to basically go on a "season break". It will only be temporary but it still sucks. The worse news is also the other good news. I started watching Steven Universe!**

 **Now Steven Universe was this cartoon that I never really got into. It felt like another Adventure Time clone to me, and as brilliant as Adventure Time is, I never got into _that_ either. I'm more of a Regular Show guy actually. So if I couldn't get into Adventure Time, why would I take this inferior copy? I knew it was good but... meh.**

 **Wow I was wrong. It was brilliant.**

 **After mlpgirl spoiled a few things for me, I heard some really cool stuff and decided to try it one more time, and I was NOT disappointed!**

 **It doesn't really feel like Adventure Time at all after the first ten episodes or so! It's got such cool characters and an interesting plot and tackles all sorts of complex issues that even bigger shows struggle to do maturely like gender and sexuality in a way I've never seen done before. And it's got SO MANY ANIME AND VIDEO GAME REFERENCES! Dragon Ball Z fusion dances, the infamous Neon Genesis "Congratulations" scene, Super Smash Brothers on a Game Cube, all sorts! It was super cool!**

 **And of course, "a rap about the power of two women in romantic love, delivered during a fight aboard an exploding spaceship" was all that was needed to sell me on the show.**

 **So the bad news is that I've** **developed an... unhealthy obsession with the cartoon... It will pass, but while I'm binge watching it, my productivity is seriously damaged which worries me. I hope it doesn't mess with future chapter updates but I dunno really.**

 **The other good news is that because of this cartoon, a lot of it will feed into my story. Not the feel of the cartoon or anything. I'm not changing my story. That would be bad if you hated Steven Universe. But themes and ideas I was already looking at that are mirrored in Steven Universe will start reflecting into here a little and just adding to my hundreds of pools of inspiration, so it _should_ get better. It won't be immediate though. The current string of chapters are already planned so there would be no difference, but you'll eventually start to notice it.**

 **Anyway, replying to the recent guest review:**

 **Guest: Thanks for the review! Well, if you've actually managed to read up to this point, then you'll know that hasn't quite happened just yet, but Princess is definitely growing, both stronger _and_ as a person, so who knows? Maybe she'll finally get her payback one day? Honestly, a Gangrene Gang story would be pretty cool! But I can't write more than two stories at a time and I've already got _so many other cool ideas_ so that's probably not happening soon. Writing this story _has_ made me think a lot more about those guys though, so keep an eye on this. Who knows, they might even reappear? Because sometimes, the Gangrene Gang really _were_ just chilling and doing nothing? Other times they had it coming, but still!**

 **As for those One Shot ideas, I'm not really big on One Shots. I like reading the good ones, but I don't like writing them that much, so you probably won't see them coming from me. Why don't _you_ try write it? Make an account and give it a go. I'd be happy to at least give it a read!**

 **If you _do_ wanna know what ideas I'm currently thinking of but haven't gotten around to doing yet, you can PM me (well, if you have an account) at any time, but currently I've been thinking about actually writing a _romance_ story for once, a rarity for me... And I've had this Dragon Ball Z story that I've been thinking of for _years_ that I now think would be cool as a (sort of) Dragon Ball Z/Steven Universe crossover. Sort of.**

 **Wow that was long. So let's do this then!**

 **CHAPTER 8: STAY TUNED FOR THE END OF THE WORLD**

Something was definitely wrong. Not with me, of course. I was _totally_ fine. In tip-top shape, no problems whatsoever. Well, apart from the fact that everybody thought I was a chump thanks to that Killer Croc incident, including my own father…. But no, I was talking about Gina and Saffron.

Gina seemed a lot more reserved than usual, even for an antisocial shut-in like herself. If she wasn't going on and on about her latest suit adjustments to me, then I could at least see her with a bunch of her other nerdy friends trading Gunpla models or something, but even that didn't happen a lot. I would have tried talking to her, but…. Actually, why _didn't_ I try ask her about it? My reputation? That was already sinking pretty quickly after the dozenth Internet blog titled 'Princess: Superhero or Super Zero' so that didn't matter. And if it did, it's not like the other preppy kids even _liked_ me, and Linah and Loony weren't exactly the people I wanted to associate with….

Oh no…. Who _were_ my friends? I probably knew my mortal enemies, the Powerpuff Girls, better than I knew anyone else in my whole life! There was Saffron, right? But she also seemed mad at me lately. I wasn't sure what I'd done! Wait, maybe it was something I _didn't_ do? Like, there was some obligatory task necessary for 'friends' to perform every once in a while, like some kind of contract renewal….

But there was also Gina! She was my friend, right? And I hadn't been overworking her or anything. In fact, thanks to the team that DAMG had provided me (I'm just gonna pronounce that 'Damage' from now on), she didn't even have to lift a finger! She could take a nice long break and do nothing, and she would _still_ have access to my labs and resources! I didn't see what the problem was!

But she _did_ say that she really liked working with me. And she had fun at that sleepover too, so maybe there was something else she was missing, something I couldn't provide her with too….

" _ETA, one minute_ ," Alice rudely interrupted in my helmet.

"Right. What are we dealing with again?" I'd been getting pretty distracted when I was flying through the sky lately. I didn't even notice the clouds and city streets passing below me anymore.

" _A giant monster attack in the city centre. It appears to have simply fallen from the sky and landed there._ "

"A two hundred foot monster just fell from the sky… right…."

" _Its threat level is Dragon—a danger to multiple cities and their people. Far superior to our previous monster encounter, Killer Croc, whose threat level was Demon—a threat to a single city and its people. I advise that you take immediate shelter and wait for the authorities to handle the situation. You do not have the power or skill to defeat it._ "

"Shut up, I know. Send a high frequency message for assistance to the Powerpuff Girls. As much as I hate this, I can't fight alone. Sync up to the Queen of Hearts Set and prepare to hand over control to Gina."

" _Roger that_."

Even from where I was, I could see the monster wreaking havoc in the distance. Just one hit would destroy me if I fought it in the Damage Suit. I was holding a silver briefcase in my hand that I'd brought with me from school. I turned off my jet pack and opened my briefcase. Nanobots scurried out of it, covering my body as they expanded into the big and bulky Queen of Hearts Set. I landed on top of a building and winced a little bit as the whole building trembled. I was pretty sure that in the floor below me, I had probably knocked out all of the light bulbs.

Whatever. It's collateral. I looked up at the monster in front of me.

Apparently, monsters go to the gym, because this guy was _ripped_. Like, live-at-the-gym-and-bench-press-yo-mama ripped. Even if I ignored its crimson red biceps and thighs like skyscrapers, or its mop of Samson-esque shoulder length hair—complete with a maroon horn jutting from its forehead—and single bloodshot eye, the armour it was wearing still looked monstrous. I couldn't tell if it had armour made of bones, bone shaped armour, or armour shaped bones, because the plates of Eastern, samurai like armour it was wearing looked like it was coming out of its skin, jutting out of its shoulder blades.

I thought I had this covered. I just needed to slow it down until the Powerpuffs arrived. No pressure. But in reality, I was trembling in my armour. I still remembered my encounter with the Killer Croc. I couldn't even _match_ it, and here I was, trying to brawl with something that may as well have been its older brother. Clearly I hadn't made very good decisions in my life.

 _No time to think about that_ , I thought to myself. I dashed towards the edge of the building and leaped off of it, firing my thrusters for that extra kick I needed. I wound my arm backwards, clenching my fist as tight as I could. With a roar, I swung my fist, powering it with my elbow rockets.

The blow was satisfying, slamming into its face with a powerful crunch. I increased the power, slamming it as hard as I could into its nose. The whole monster should have been down, right there. KO, flawless victory, fatality. Instead? It didn't even flinch. It raised both of its hands and clapped them together, trying to squish me like a mosquito.

I dived off it like a springboard, just barely avoiding getting turned into a Princess pancake. The ground looked awfully high up from where I was….

"Gina, redirect all power to my thrusters!" I barked as I started to fall, desperately trying to slow my descent. "Gina? Gina!"

If she was on the other side, she clearly found the sight of me falling to my death hilarious. Fortunately, I never got to experience the full drop. Unfortunately, that was because the monster reeled back its leg, and with a might kick, punted me back into the air.

The wind rushed out of my guts, probably getting torn out along with my consciousness. The world went black as I was launched across three city blocks. When I came to, I was plastered against a wall, my whole body stuck in the brick and cement from the impact. I couldn't even move, and I was pretty sure that my armour had taken the brunt of the force. If I had just been wearing the Damage Power suit…. I shuddered at the thought.

"Okay, this isn't working," I wheezed, trying to catch my breath from the blow. "Gina, I'm gonna use the nanobots. Pinpoint all weak spots and fire." There was nothing. Something was telling me that Gina wasn't at her post. Was I disappointed? Or even angry? I know I should have been. But somehow, I felt like this was bound to happen. Why?

Three streaks of light blazing across the sky interrupted my train of thought.

They didn't even _wait_ , charging straight for the monster and flying around it, raining down blows and beams wherever they could. The monster frantically waved its arms around in a futile attempt to smash them, then stopped. It flexed its knees, and… I know you won't believe me but…. It _jumped_. It flew straight into the air like a rocket, holding its club above its head. The three lights had stopped, revealing themselves as none other than the Powerpuff Girls, staring at it in confusion.

The monster fell from the sky, swinging down with its club. It slammed it into the ground, a burst of hurricane winds billowing out from it, along with rupturing the roads, the buildings, and just about everything around it. The Powerpuffs tried to push against it, but even they were blown back, slamming against various buildings. Buttercup recovered first, flying back towards it, her fist clenched as she roared in fury. She swung her fist, just as the monster did the same. Their blows collided.

It wasn't even a contest.

She flew backwards, flying through four skyscrapers and disappearing from sight. Bubbles crawled out of the apartment building she'd found herself in, and screamed, her supersonic voice shattering all the windows around her. The monster must have thought it was some kind of call-and-response Marco-polo thing, because it roared back at her, completely engulfing Bubbles' scream. You thought breaking glass was impressive? Try shattering metal! Entire buildings trembled and cracked as it roared. It looked like if they took any more punishment, they would crumble into dust.

Bubbles tried to cover her ears and scream back, but there was no point. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell out of the building, crashing into the ground in an unmoving heap.

Blossom was the last to rise, having observed all of its movements. Surely, she could think of a plan, right?

She flew above it, getting higher and higher. I was wondering where she was going until I saw what she was doing. She was getting the sun behind her, that way the monster wouldn't be able to aim at her properly. She began to glow in a red light, sparks of energy flying off of her. She pointed her hands down and fired, brilliant arcs of red light flying off of them and slamming into the monster.

The beast roared, howling into the air and causing even more damage around him. Finally, they'd gotten a good hit in!

Ha! Not. The monster held its club behind it, clutching it like it was some kind of boomerang, and tossed it.

This thing was the size of a building, so how it could move like a bullet made absolutely no sense whatsoever. It spun through the air, rotating like a discus. Blossom didn't even see it coming. How _could_ she? It shouldn't have even been able to hit from where she was.

But it did, taking Blossom out of the sky. She spiralled through the air before falling pathetically towards the top of a building. The monster wasn't done there though. It clenched both of its fists together and slammed down, sending Blossom straight through the building, and taking the whole tower down with her.

And you know what sucked? Even with the untold destruction being caused, I could still spy a Hero TV helicopter in the air, a couple of vans on the ground, and either the bravest, or the most expendable camera crews they could find, all recording the devastation, probably elated at all the extra views the program would be getting. They probably had some stupid tag line like 'Powerpuffs Power poofed?'

None of the Powerpuffs were moving, and after witnessing that, I felt like it would be safer if I played dead too. What made me think I could fight something like this?! This was on a whole other level!

The monster looked up at the helicopter flying around its head. For one horrible second, I thought it was going to grab the copter and eat it or something. Instead, it turned to face it, even adjusting its hair so it wouldn't get in the way of its eye.

"Citizens of Townsville!" it boomed in its inhuman, echoing voice. "I have come on behalf of the ruler of Monster Island in order to make you all pay for the heinous crimes of your so called 'heroes', the murderers of our brothers and sisters! However, our leader, Lord Freiyz, is indeed a benevolent overlord, and has granted you a chance to cling to life as you wish your loved ones goodbye!" He was eating the camera up, flexing his muscles and popping his pecs as he spoke. It was like he'd been practising! "Lord Freiyz has challenged this town's citizens to a contest of strength! If a hero or villain cannot defeat him within the next seventy two hours, then he shall wipe Townsville clean off the map! You can send any number of representatives that you wish to Monster Island. They shall be treated accordingly, as guests, but should they all fail, they shall be executed. This is a life or death scenario! This is but a sample of my lord's power!"

He slapped his hand on his breastplate, or whatever it was, and it began flashing multiple colours. It took me a second to realise that it was a TV screen. It was showing a mountain, a massive one with jutting peaks that reached up to the sky, filled with vegetation and probably dozens of species of animal and plant life. A few seconds later, and the whole thing exploded.

It was like somebody had planted a nuclear bomb in its summit, the explosion engulfing the air in a giant mushroom cloud shaped ball of dust and fire. We all watched in horror as the mountainside was engulfed by the inferno, disappearing as if it had never even existed. Once the cloud started to dissipate, there wasn't even a sign of the mountain range. We were all looking at a bone dry plain of dirt and rocks. The mountains had been completely flattened.

"This is but a fraction of my lord's strength! You have no choice but to comply with our terms or else you risk the same fate befalling your city! If you try to intervene with the military, Townsville shall be destroyed! If you do not send any representatives, Townsville shall be destroyed! This is non-negotiable! There shall be no mercy for the weak! The cowards shall not be spared! Only the strong may live! May your strikes ring true and clear, for they shall be your last!" With that, he turned on his heel and peacefully strolled away, scraping away the sides of buildings as he left. The sound of his footsteps slowly grew distant as he disappeared from sight.

" _Hello? Princess, are you there?_ " Gina asked over the speaker.

"Oh great, _now_ you show up. Thanks for being my ever reliable aid."

" _Well_ sorry! _I couldn't exactly set up, what with me being left out of the loop all the time!_ "

"Gina, what are you talking about?"

" _Just… nothing. Forget it. I'm sorry I wasn't there in time. We'll meet tomorrow at school or something._ " The speakers went dead, leaving me in silence, still stuck in a wall a couple of storeys up. I had a bad feeling about how Gina was acting, but I had an even worse one about what was to come. That monster hadn't exactly left us feeling confident.

With a bit of an effort, I pulled myself from the wall, falling towards the ground. I landed, splintering the pavement as I did so, and dashed towards Bubbles who was still motionless and face down on top of a car with all the windows broken.

"Bubbles. Wake up already. Bubbles!" I shook her awake as she forced herself up, a dazed expression on her face. "Bubbles, did you catch all of that?"

"WHAT?!"

"Did you get the message?"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! SPEAK UP!"

"STOP SHOUTING AT ME!"

"I'M NOT SHOUTING!" I rolled my eyes and left her to her tone deafness, dashing towards the crumbled remains of the building that Blossom was slammed through while Bubbles flew off to find her sister.

The town was a mess. We were supposed to be this place's protectors! Symbols of peace and justice—or whatever cheap ideals they packaged heroes with nowadays—but we couldn't even beat a single monster with an eye problem. Clearing up the rubble and trying to get the injured to safety was not a fun job when you felt like a loser. Even after emergency services showed up to help, it was still sombre business.

A freshly awakened Buttercup chucked a steel girder to the side, moving it away from the rubble, just to reveal Blossom flattened beneath it, her eyes scrunched up in pain. We all crowded around her.

"Wakey wakey, Red," I said, giving her a good smack in the face to try and resuscitate her. I probably didn't need to slap her, but it made me feel a _lot_ better, and everyone seemed too beat up to complain.

"Where am I?" she groaned as she sat up, pulling the bits of cement and plaster out of her hair.

"Did you catch the memo?"

"No? Bring me up to speed." I explained the situation to them, and how failure to comply meant the destruction of everything we've ever known. No pressure.

Blossom frowned as she sat upright, rubbing her shoulder as if to check it was still attached.

"Well girls, you know what we need to do," she said. "Come on, let's go teach this 'Freiyz' person a lesson."

"Yeah, and we've still gotta get payback for what happened here!" Buttercup roared, punching her palm with an excited look on her face. It was almost as if she was _enjoying_ the thought of a challenge!

"THEY HAVEN'T PAID YOU BACK?!" Bubbles yelled. It sounded like her hearing hadn't quite come back yet.

"W-wait!" I cried just before they could shoot off into the sky. "Are you stupid?! You can't just charge after them like that! You'll get destroyed!" Buttercup glared at me.

"We're the Powerpuff Girls. We eat up monsters like them for breakfast!"

"What, the same way that guy served you— _all of us_ just now? That wasn't your average monster."

"So he caught us off guard. We didn't see it coming. So what? Now we're ready for him, he won't be able to pull the same trick twice!"

"I'm telling you that your plan is stupid _because_ I know you can beat him!"

"Why don't you wanna believe in us-wait… what?"

"I've fought you guys for _years_. When you put your minds to it, there's _nobody_ you cannot defeat. But that's why it's important that you don't charge in and get yourselves killed! Because I've been the bad guy for so long, I know how other bad guys think. Don't you think they _want_ you to charge after him?"

"I get what you're saying," Blossom said. I almost choked a little. Blossom _agreed_ with me? "That Cyclops could have delivered that message any time, but he waited until we showed up and he had beaten us into the ground. Why would he do that unless he _wanted_ us to hear it?"

"Exactly! And if you charge after them now, then you could be flying right into a trap!"

"All while we're bruised and beaten, too tired to fight even a _regular_ monster."

"And that guy was just a messenger! Sure, he was stronger than the average monster…."

"But he's definitely not the strongest either…."

"So he's probably just a grunt, third in command at best…."

"And a random grunt at worst…."

"So we won't have any _idea_ …."

"About how strong this 'Freiyz' guy actually is!"

"Ah! Stop, stop, stop it right now!" Buttercup screamed. "I don't understand anything with you two doing that! Who's butts do we need to kick, and when?" Blossom and I looked at each other, trying our hardest to stifle the giggles that were trying to erupt at Buttercup's distress. As much as I hated her, I always admired the fact that Blossom at least had some tactical sense, _something_ we shared in common, if not the only thing.

"Basically, we can't fight them today," Blossom said. "I know, I don't want to put it off or anything, but we only have one shot at this no matter _when_ we go. We should use as much time as we can to prepare and rest so that we'll be ready for the fight."

"WE'LL GET ARRESTED BY A KITE?!"

Blossom sighed as she patted her sister on the back. Bubbles looked even more confused than normal. She _really_ needed the rest.

"I'm sure I can handle this on my own," I lied, "but… they're monsters… and…." I looked down at my toes. I really wanted to say something witty and condescending, but it was a little hard to focus when my whole body was trembling. I didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to monsters. Even thinking about going to an entire island filled with their ilk was enough to turn my blood to ice. I didn't want to face anymore gross, slimy, creepy crawly creatures with their sharp fangs and claws that could tear me to ribbons. But I knew I had to do this too, if not for Townsville then at least for my ratings. I couldn't let the Powerpuffs keep showing me up.

But the _monsters_! How did these brats go to sleep at night knowing that tomorrow they would have to face more of them? That didn't sound heroic, it sounded insane….

Bubbles grabbed my hand and squeezed it sympathetically. I recoiled it, thinking she was going to judo flip me or something, then relaxed. Somehow, even though she couldn't even hear us, she understood.

"IT'S O… It's okay," she said, trying hard to lower her volume. "We'll be there with you. Okay?"

"Y-yeah. Sure. Umm… I gotta get back home, pack my suits away." I turned away, and rubbed at my eyes.

"Princess, are you _crying_?" Buttercup asked.

"No I'm not! I just got something in my eye, from when we were moving around everything…." I'd retrieved my briefcase, and I opened it up, my suit's nanobots climbing back into it and revealing my blue Damage Power suit beneath it. The jet boots began heating up. "Meet me outside my mansion in two days. We've got to come up with a proper game plan." I flew off before I could wait for a reply. I couldn't think of anything else. Right now, I had to focus on the job, and how I was going to earn as much hero points as I could doing it.

* * *

Back at school (the last school day before everyone in town evacuated), during recess, I found Gina and Saffron by the monkey bars, actually hanging out with each other. It was weird how I never really saw the two of them together at school, but I guess with half the students already gone from Townsville, they didn't really have anyone else they _could_ hang out with.

After summoning them away from the few remaining snot nosed ankle biters that I called fellow classmates, and gathering behind the library, I explained the situation to them.

"Yeah, we know, we saw it on Hero TV," Saffron said. "'Heroes Flattened by Flexing Fiend' or something like that. The reporter or commentator or whatever got way too excited, like he was gonna get some kind of bonus on his next paycheck if he made it seem as exciting as possible. Honestly, it was just a one sided beating though."

"It _did_ boost their ratings though," Gina added. "Everyone is watching or listening, no matter where it's from. A lot of people all over Townsville are trying to evacuate as soon as possible. Other people, like my parents, are just like 'oh the Powerpuff Girls will take care of it'."

"The Powerpuff Girls got beaten!" I yelled. " _I'm_ the one who's going to save you all!"

"And you did a _great_ job of that yesterday when you got knocked out in one blow. That was, what, a soccer ball kick to the _everywhere_?"

"It was a spectacular defeat, wasn't it?" Saffron added.

"How quickly will she go down next time?"

"I dunno, thirty seconds? Maybe that's too generous?"

Okay, something was _definitely_ wrong with all these harsh accusations being flung my way.

"Why are you all so venomous today?" I asked. "I'm trying to protect you guys too when I go out there…."

"No, you're just trying to protect your fame and ego!" Saffron shot back. "Ever since you signed that deal with DAMG, you've stopped caring about us! You barely even listen to Gina, you don't tell her when you go on missions, you don't even use her weapons! You haven't even _spoken_ to me since then! Are you too busy trying to manage your precious hero points to even _talk_ to us?"

"What? I'm not abandoning you or anything. I'm just trying to broaden my options, expand my network, make myself a better hero…."

"Too bad it's not making you much of a better person."

"Well what does it matter?! _I'm_ the one fighting monsters all the time! Obviously I won't have time to hang out and drink tea, Saffron! And Gina, you're still working on my suits, just like you wanted to. I'm still giving you the money and time and resources and more money you need to make bigger, better stuff. You should be happy that you have more time to do what you love!"

"I _am_ happy. And I'm grateful that you've let me work on all this stuff. But I'm also mad that you didn't even _tell_ me that you'd struck a deal with Damage to get a new suit! I only found out when I watched you on TV, and found out about my AI replacement from a system scan later! You told me you had a dentist appointment! You _lied_!"

"Well, I thought it would hurt your feelings, and I was right. You should be grateful."

"Yeah, I feel _so_ much better being lied to instead. And here I thought that I was useful for once." Gina folded her arms and tried to look tough, but I could see the bitterness and hurt in her eyes, even through her glasses. I was feeling something in my stomach that felt suspiciously like remorse, but that wasn't right. I was just doing my job as a hero and protecting them, even though they probably weren't worth the time of somebody as great as myself. I was doing them a favour! They should have been grateful!

But, since when did I care about actually being a 'hero'?

I turned to Saffron. Maybe she would see things from my side?

"Come on, you _know_ I wasn't being a jerk on purpose! I never treat my co-workers unfairly!"

That did it. Saffron glared at me, my whole body freezing as my breath caught in my throat. Her eyes looked like a snake's. Saffron didn't shout or yell when she got angry, but that somehow made it even worse.

"You hurt Gina's feelings. She looks up to you, Princess, and you hurt her. That's bad enough, but you don't even seem to care, even now. I cut you a _lot_ of slack Princess, but when it comes to being a good friend, you've got a lot to learn."

I felt that one, _a lot_. I was used to people saying bad things about me. Talking trash? Saying I'm mean or stuck up? Making fun of my hair or where I come from? Fine. They were probably stupid anyway. But from Saffron? And while she was calling me her _friend_?

That's when it clicked in my head. Here I actually had friends, people who cared about me. They weren't running on a paycheck, they wanted to spend _time_ with me, and to know I cared for them back, and I was too stupid to notice. Of course they were mad at me! How could I, with my amazing powers of perception, fail to notice something so blindingly obvious?

"I didn't know that I… I…. I'm…. You were hurting the whole time…." I didn't really know what to say. I really _was_ a horrible person after all. I couldn't even figure out how to give a simple apology…. What was wrong with me? Was it a matter of pride? Was I too arrogant to think they, my loyal subjects… my _friends_ , deserved an apology? Did I just have no experience in the field?

I don't know why, but _I_ was the one who was crying, tears welling up behind my eyes. _Again_. I tried to frantically blink them away before they could notice. I was _not_ going to cry over something so stupid! Instead, I was going to act like Daddy would.

"Hey, guys," I said, my voice cracking a little, "how about we crack a deal?" The sceptical, intimidating eyebrows were raised, but I was _not_ going to be discouraged. "You guys can stick around as long as you like, as long as I agree never to hide things or lie to you again? I can't leave you guys out of the loop like that. You're my underl…. You're my partners. My friends. We're in this together, and deceiving each other isn't good business practice. I'll… I'll also take full responsibility for any and all altercations caused…. Is that acceptable?!"

Their expressions were as still as stone. I was standing there, waiting for Saffron to punch me and Gina to smack me over the head with a monkey wrench. Then, their faces contorted and stretched into such a strange gesture for the situation that I almost thought I was hallucinating. They were… _smiling_!

"Apology accepted, Princess," Saffron said.

"Yeah, although you really suck at them," Gina added.

"I'm not apologising! I'm just… revising the terms of our agreement!"

Gina clearly didn't buy it, and my face turning as red as a beetroot didn't help things.

" _Sure_. Whatever you say. Don't think I'm letting you off the hook though! I'm still mad, so you better make it up to me somehow."

"Of course! I'll make sure you're suitably reimbursed for all your hard work! How much money would you-"

"Not with money!"

"What? But-"

"Just… forget about it for now! We have bigger stuff to focus on."

"Like the possible destruction of the city," Saffron added. "We saw everything on the net and on TV. You're going too, right Princess?"

"Right, and I'll need help preparing for anything and everything. I'll need you two to help me do that. Are you in?"

"Did you even need to ask?" Saffron said. "We've got your back!"

"Obviously _I'm_ in," Gina added. "I mean, it's just saving Townsville, right? We'll do it before bedtime!"

Looking at the two of them with their bright eyes and reassuring smiles, I actually felt lucky for once. I actually had one or two friends. Daddy said money can buy you anything, but looking at these guys, I wasn't so sure. Maybe, just maybe, it looked like a little kindness and patience was way more effective than a thousand paychecks….

Nah! But it's a good substitute anyways.

* * *

 **Now I can do this properly! Time to play catchup!**

 **Thank you Novelist24 ("Write on, you crazy author!"... No? Nobody caught the Pink Floyd reference? Okay...), tsilver9 (the ever reliable critic), wchoi3617 (I spent ten minutes trying to pronounce your username, man), nk . cheer (minus the spaces since the site thinks it's a website and tries deleting it), and Geofire (stay determined! You'll figure out how to write a story some day! The first story always sucks though, no matter what. No exceptions) for the follows and favourites of this story!**

 **Also, thank you The Fox's book (I thought of the Fantastic Mr. Fox actually) for favouriting this story!**

 **I normally make sure to read as many fanfics (or at least one or two) of people who follow, fave, or review, but... Steven Universe... So I'm not reading much fanfic lately so I can't actually say "go read this, it's awesome" because I'd be lying. I _can_ say that a lot of these guys have fanfic on here though. The Fox's Book has a Powerpuff Girl fic with Brick as the main character (I think) for example. I know Geofire WAS writing a fanfic at some point but stopped so who knows? Plus, he's pretty cool so there's that! He might one day post something. tsilver9 probably won't visit this fandom again but just in case, you might wanna say hi. He had some old One Shots from Bleach and some video games and stuff but he seems mostly retired. Regardless, he's an all around cool guy who's helped review and critique a LOT of my stuff and without whom my writing would be MEDIOCRE so he's awesome!**

 **I see Novelist24's fic being updated regularly, "Redemption of the Ruffs" to the point where it's almost annoying! He's pretty consistent and I guess he's got a similar idea to me in trying to 'redeem' a villain so check it out for me!**

 **I don't think wchoi3617 writes anything but if what he says about being able to is true then somebody close to him should strap him to a chair and force him to try! We need some good stuff in this fandom! Sure we've got Redd busy writing stuff so good it makes me question why I even try, but she's only one person. Everybody counts!**

 **Nk . cheer has a Hamilton fic... I don't know what Hamilton is so I can't actually say anything about that but maybe one of you guys does!**

 **Yeah dedications were long today... Anyway, I'd love to hear all your thoughts on the last two chapters! See you all next week!**


	9. JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF MONSTER ISLAND

**I think I'm a few hours late uploading this, huh? Well, not to worry! I managed to catch the actual day which is more than I expected! Anyway, happy reading!**

 **CHAPTER 9: JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF MONSTER ISLAND**

I stretched my gaze across the horizon, trying to sound poetic, at least in my head, when I probably sounded ridiculous. The moisture from the ocean was probably messing up my hair, and the sun felt too harsh, so I came prepared with a fashionably large sun hat. Sure, the sun was perfect for a tan, but why would I need one? I was _already_ perfect!

As the boat sailed through the waters, I thought back to my last encounter with the Powerpuffs before we started off towards Monster Island….

* * *

We all met outside my mansion, just like we planned. The whole squad—minus Saffron—was there: Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, and Gina. Of course, only three of us decided to enter by flying in and leaving a crater in the ground.

"Ignoring the damage you've just caused to the driveway," I said impatiently, "this mission is bigger than any past grudges. We've got thirty hours before Townsville gets turned into a crater. We don't know how strong the enemy is, so we've got to conserve as much energy as possible and stay on the aler-"

"C'mon girls, let's give em heck!" Blossom commanded, flexing her knees about to blast off.

"W-what are you doing?" I screamed, grabbing onto her arm before she could fly away. "Did you not just here what I said?! If we fly in, then we'll be using vital energy that we need to fight! We have to be in _perfect_ condition when we arrive!"

"So what're you gonna do, swim?" Buttercup asked. "Monster Island is in the middle of the ocean. You _have_ to fly there!"

"Not unless you're rich! Normally I would take the private jet, but Daddy doesn't want to lend it to me if I'm just going to 'play hero' with it. Plus, I doubt Monster Island has any airports…. But I _can_ get us there by sea! It moves at 40 knots, and the journey will only take us four hours-"

"Four hours?!"

"Oh relax, we'll still have twenty six hours to save the day. That's plenty of time!"

"I don't care, that's stupid! If we can fly there, then we should just fly there, end of story!" I should have seen this coming, but Buttercup's stubbornness was still really getting on my nerves.

"Well then, fine! I don't want your Powerpuff Girl cooties to get all over my _super yacht_ anyway! I'll get there to clean up whats left of you."

"Ha! As if! We'll be done before you've even started off! So there!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

" _Fine!_ "

" _ **Fine!**_ "

"Buttercup!" Blossom yelled. "As much as I don't like this either, we should probably take a ride with Princess."

"What?! _No way_ , this is Princess we're talking about! Besides, by the time we get there, some other hero will have already beaten this guy!"

"If somebody else was strong enough to win, then the monsters would have been beaten already. Besides, we can't afford to split our forces. Remember, losers are executed, so we only have one shot each. So instead of going one at a time and getting picked off, we should fight together to give us the best bet."

"But _Princess_? She's just gonna get in our way!"

"She can hold her own you know. At least if it's a trap, she can get a message out warning the other heroes."

Did Buttercup just have some kind of grudge against me or something? Because she was grumbling to herself, her arms crossed. At least we'd now sorted out our transport. The last thing was Gina….

"So we stick to the plan, right?" Gina said. "I'll stay on the ship and control your comm systems. You need anything, just ask."

"You'll be like a guardian angel!" Bubbles chirped, "Protecting us even though we can't see you!"

"Yeah, you could think of me like that," Gina laughed. "Oh, Saffron's not coming?"

"Yeah," I said. "After we talked about it, I figured that I didn't want my trusty servant to get hurt on the field of battle. She's not got any powers, and she's not got any experience fighting monsters. It would be such a hassleif she got flattened while on Monster Island. So, we agreed that she would sit this one out." Gina raised an eyebrow for some reason, but didn't say any more on the topic.

"So, what are we sitting around here for? Let's go already, and save the world!"

And so, after a limo ride to the dock, we arrived at my private yacht, and after unloading all of my luggage (you can never be too prepared) we were on the boat and sailing across the ocean, and I was on the deck, looking out at the water below. If Saffron was around, she probably would have been inspired to write some bad poetry. _'_ _The sea soothes my soul like a thousand silk blankets!' Uh…. This is why I don't write poetry…._

I turned away from the waters and headed back inside. The sea was boring. I might as well check on my armour before the fight.

The first thing I saw when I entered was the lounge. Despite being among the top ten fastest yachts in the world, the ship was fitted for comfort. The lounge had earth brown sofas arranged around a black coffee table, with a plasma screen TV on the wall facing the open end of that circle. Opposite that was a bar filled with fine wines and other drinks Daddy wouldn't let me touch, but there was also fresh fruit juice that you could mix however you want. For those with unrefined palettes, there was a fridge that was filled with fizzy drinks and juice pouches, but why settle for mediocrity when you had the best?

Anyway, considering its lavish appearance, with the chandelier and the cashmere rug and gorgeous cream wallpaper and the _freaking TV_ , it was surprisingly devoid of life.

Despite my warnings to _conserve_ energy, Blossom and Buttercup had flown out and were practising aerial manoeuvres. They must have gotten tired of watching all the other heroes flying on ahead above us, waving and laughing at them as they sped along towards their deaths. Gina was in one of the guest rooms somewhere, making last minute adjustments to my armour. The only person in the room when I walked in was Bubbles, drawing something on a tablet connected to a tiny laptop, a focused look on her face. She looked like she didn't want to be disturbed, so naturally, I disturbed her anyway, sitting down next to her and flicking her pigtails.

"Stop that," she said, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Stop what?"

"What you're doing right now. It's distracting."

"Ah come on, I just wanna see what you're doing!"

"Will you stop if I show you?"

"No promises." She glared at me, then sighed. Of course, Bubbles couldn't stay mad at me for more than two seconds. She tilted the screen towards me.

"What is it this time, a pony? A rainbow? A…." I stopped, completely speechless. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but it still wasn't what I was expecting. I was looking at a massive island, filled with giant trees with marshmallows growing in them, and mountain ranges shaped like scoops of ice cream. There was a giant hole in the middle, rivers and waterfalls streaming into it, coming from all around the island. I'm guessing there was meant to be some kind of lake in the middle, but it hadn't been coloured in properly yet. It was just pitch black.

If that was all, I probably wouldn't have been so interested, but the whole island was resting on a rainbow… in space. Instead of the sea, there were stars, and instead of the brine, I saw cosmic energy. Whatever place this was that Bubbles was drawing, it was nowhere that could ever exist on earth.

And this was before it was finished! I could still see splotches of random paints in the corner of the screen, like some kind of electronic mixing palette.

I stared at Bubbles in surprise. The last drawing of hers I'd ever seen was when we were six or seven, and it had been some stupid rabbit with Japanese characters above it in a speech bubble. This couldn't have been the same person, could it?

"I know what you're gonna say," Bubbles said sadly. I was still too shocked to say anything, so she kept speaking. "You're gonna say it's silly. You're gonna make fun of me, like you always do."

"Um… well, I don't really _feel_ like it today, so be grateful! What are you even drawing this for? Who's paying you?" She started giggling to herself, even as I stared at her quizzically. "What's so funny?"

"Princess, nobody's _paying_ me to do this."

"What? But it looks like it took so much time! Why would you do it if you're not gonna get any money from it?"

"Because it's _fun_ , silly! I just draw because I can, and I want to get better! If I think it's good, then I post it on Deviant Art! I'm not sure about this one though…."

"What? Are you crazy? If somebody told me they were going to paint this on my bedroom wall, I would pay them in diamonds!"

"Wait, really?"

"No. But it's clearly good!"

Bubbles smiled, but she still looked very guarded. For somebody who was always (for lack of a better word) bubbly and full of life, it was strange to see her so calm and reserved.

"It's not even finished really, and even if it was, there's all sorts of problems. The perspective is all wrong, the texturing is terrible, and it looks like I don't even know what a shadow _is_. But if I could get _you_ to like it, then I have to be doing something right."

"Even though you just listed a bunch of things you're doing wrong?"

"Well, that's why I'm working on it now. If I can fix it all now, then I won't have to worry about it later. This is actually great to catch up on it, but it's also annoying that I can't talk to or get help from Footsteps while I'm here."

"Footsteps?"

"Yeah! FootstepsOfHeaven. He's this other guy on Deviant Art and Fanfiction. He's an _awesome_ artist! He makes web comics and stuff and he's won a few online art competitions too! He also writes a bunch of My Little Pony fanfic. He's really cool, and he just randomly started giving me tips and pointers for my own art and fanfic. He's just the coolest!" She looked absolutely star struck, like when Lilac and Linux are talking about the latest celebrity heart throb, except this was to do with art and other dork things. It would be cruel to burst her bubble now…. Oh well.

"Haven't you, like, never even met the guy, or girl?"

"Yup, but it doesn't change that he's really good."

"Do you even know what he looks like? He could be a forty year old man who smells like expired tobacco."

"Eek! Stop! Don't break my image of him! Let me fantasise in peace!" I would _not_ leave her to her fantasies, but we were interrupted by the sound of somebody yelping in pain, followed by a thud. I panicked and pointed my watch (sure, like _that_ would do anything) at the source of the sound—the chairs leading below deck to the rooms—and was met with a face I didn't expect.

"This isn't the way to the bathroom, is it?" Saffron asked with a nervous laugh.

"Saffron? What are you doing here?!" I shrieked. "You were supposed to stay put and wait for us in Townsville!"

"What, while you went out there and did something stupid? Not a chance."

"You're gonna get in our way! Go back home _right now_!"

"Oh sure, let me just put on my wet suit and _swim_ there! Oh wait, I can't, because I'm almost _a hundred miles away_!"

"Well then, you better start practising your freestyle, because you've got a long trip!"

"This is the thanks I get for looking out for you?"

"I have a _power suit_ , and three Powerpuff Girls! _I'll_ be the one looking out for you!"

"If you can! How's your win-loss ratio been without me? Buttercup beat you, the Killer Croc beat you, the cyclops beat you… Gina said that even the giant robot wrecked your armour. Still feel up for protecting me?"

"Why you…." Bubbles stepped between us before the situation could get any worse.

"Girls, let's take a breather," she said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. "We're all friends here after all! Let's all just sit down, grab some juice, and talk it over so we can figure out how to fix this. That sound fair?"

"Whatever," I grumbled, my eyes still locked with Saffron's. We sat down in the couches while Bubbles went to grab something to drink. After we'd calmed down over a glass of orange juice, we could finally talk without yelling at each other.

"So, why are you here anyway?" I asked. "Or rather, _how_ are you here. We're pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and I don't think you swam here."

"I stowed away inside one of your suitcases," she said. "I know you were only trying to protect me by leaving me in Townsville-"

"Correction: I was trying to protect _myself_ from having to protect you."

"Whatever! Same thing! It's just that… I don't like seeing you come back half dead after all of your fights. Every time you come back a little worse than before, and you push us away even more too. I'm just scared that maybe… you'll forget that we're here for you too. That when it really matters, and you can't do it alone, that you won't know that we want to help too. I don't want to see you get hurt, or worse, and think to myself that maybe I could have done something…." Looking at her now that her anger was gone, I still thought that her tagging along was a bad idea, but now… she wasn't tagging along for the kicks. She wanted to help. What use she would be was another matter, but she was worried for me. But….

"You think I'm not worried too? We're going to an island full of _monsters_. Unlike the Powerpuffs, we're only human. All it takes is one good hit and we're dog food!"

"That's why I'm coming with you."

"And that's why I didn't want you to come! You have no reason to get involved. If you get hurt… at the very least it will look bad for me if people see my employees have a tendency of getting eaten. But at worst? Well…." Saffron nodded her head.

"I understand. I'll stay away from the fighting, and if things get bad, I'll get out of there immediately. You guys can handle yourselves. Does that sound fair?" I smiled. I didn't even have to say anything and she immediately got what I meant.

"You see? _This_ is why you're my lackey!"

"Call me your lackey again and I'm finishing your fruit juice."

"Hey! Hands off the juice! This is reserved for the lips of royalty, such as myself!"

"You're not even royal!"

"That's what you think! Princess is in my name!"

"Princess _is_ your name!" Bubbles looked between the two of us and shrugged hers shoulders.

"Well, at least you're not fighting anymore! Hey, how much longer until we reach Monster Island?"

"Two hours. Go ahead and make yourself comfy." Bubbles groaned as she slumped back down into the couch. I couldn't blame her. My fists were aching to dish out some monster punishing damage!

* * *

The beaches of Monster Island were _not_ strewn with the bones of slain enemies. Honestly, I was a little disappointed. I was kind of expecting there to be a massive thunderstorm overhead, an active volcano, the beach to be made of broken glass instead of sand, maybe a few rivers of fire, and some freshly slain corpses hanging from decaying trees. What I got instead was a beautiful beach with palm trees dotting its shores. The water was pure and crystalline, and the jungle at the end of the beach only looked _mildly_ infested with horrifying plants and creatures that could kill us on contact!

"Monster Island isn't that monstrous," I said, folding my arms.

"I guess that makes sense," Saffron replied, "since I don't think monsters want to live somewhere uncomfortable either."

"It's still underwhelming. And here I expected to be attacked by the first wave of them. I even equipped the Damage suit just in case!"

We were all gathered at the beach, the ship half a kilometre away so it wouldn't scrape against the seabed or any rocks. Gina had stayed behind to manage my equipment, but she probably wouldn't need to do much while I was in the Damage suit.

" _Movement detected,_ " Alice said from the loudspeaker so the others could hear. A second later and we all noticed it. The bushes were rustling just ahead of us. All of us clenched our fists, going on guard, even Saffron—although I wasn't too sure what she would do. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest as fog started spreading from within the forest, masking everything in sight.

I was sure that I was mentally prepared for this. I was armed to the teeth and surrounded by four other people, three of which were Powerpuffs. I had no reason to be scared. And yet, I couldn't stop myself from trembling or my teeth from clattering like I was in Scooby Doo. I couldn't help but think of my last two encounters with giant monsters, and how I couldn't do a single thing. How close I had been from getting torn apart. I tried putting it out of my head. That was then, and this was now. I couldn't.

"Wait for it to show its body," Blossom said. I tried nodding, but I could barely control my body.

 _I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die,_ I thought to myself.

 _Princess, calm down! You're just overreacting_ , I tried reasoning to myself. _You never used to be scared of monsters_.

 _That was before they punched me through buildings!_

" _You have unusually high levels of stress_ ," Alice said. Saffron looked at me in concern. If Alice didn't tip her off, she probably noticed that my face looked like it had been bleached. " _I suggest you retreat from the danger zone and_ -"

"Die!" I roared, holding my hands in front of me. Before anyone could stop me, I let out a thousand arcs of electricity, the bolts flashing everywhere and frying countless numbers of trees.

"Princess, calm down!" Blossom said, but her voice sounded muted compared to the sound of my own heartbeat and my weapons. I kept spraying them everywhere, somehow hoping that I could clear the fog, until somebody tackled me to the ground, pinning my arms to the floor.

"You need to chill!" Buttercup growled, even as I struggled miserably to shove her off.

"Agreed!" an unfamiliar voice said. The fog condensed into one place, revealing something that _looked_ like a human girl at least.

She was short and fluffy, just like a sheep. Complete with a sheepish smile and candy floss textured white hair. Oh, and the rest of her body was made of fog, except for her eyes which looked like a red blue and green pinwheel. It was like she was only held together by her cream coloured top, green jeans and hiking boots. I felt my fear getting replaced with rage. I was scared of a walking cloud!

"Who… or rather, _what_ are you?" Blossom asked. The cloud lady smiled, her teeth shining like pearls.

"A monster obviously," she said. "Specifically, a cloud nymph, or 'nebulae' if you wanna get specific. Sorry if I scared you there. I thought I would look approachable to you humans but I guess I was wrong! They tried hiring a less intimidating monster this time after the last guy got punched across the island by Dragonbane. I mean, how was _she_ meant to know that Dragonbane—dragon slayer extraordinaire—would be there? It's not Agnes's fault that she's twelve feet tall and breathes fire! And the scales are a skin condition! Honestly, humans can be so judgemental, it's almost amazing!"

We looked between each other, wondering if we really got the right place. I guess eventually the cloud girl realised that she was rambling, because she abruptly stopped mid-sentence and cleared her throat before extending her hand out for us to shake it. "Anyway, sorry about that! My name's Cumulonimbus, but my friends call me Nimbus, or Nim for short. Some of them call me crazy too, but _they're_ the odd balls here! Anyway, nice to meet you!"

"Umm… right. Nice to meet you too. My name's Blossom." Blossom shook her hand, still looking reserved.

"Oh I know. You're one of the Powerpuff Girls! You're really famous here on Monster Island! Or maybe infamous? Depends on who you're asking I suppose! That's Bubbles, and that's Buttercup! And those two are…." Honestly, I felt a little offended. The _Powerpuffs_ were more recognisable than _me_? I would have let her have a piece of my mind of Buttercup wasn't still pinning me down.

She let go of me so I could stand up. I'd forgive this mysterious 'Nim' person… for now.

"My name is Princess Morbucks," I said, talking slowly and resting my fingertips on my chest, just in case she was too scatter-brained to realise I was talking about myself here. "This is my trusty ally, Saffron. We're here in regard to the challenge sent to Townsville two days ago.

"Wow, a real Princess!" Nim squealed. "I've never met any royalty before!"

"Uh, no, I'm not a princess, my name is _actually_ -" I was wasting my time. The girl wasn't even paying attention. She'd already turned on her heels and started skipping towards the dense overgrowth.

"This way everybody! You were probably invited here by Bushido, right? Big samurai dude with a club? One eye?"

"Yeah," Buttercup replied, "he said he wants to fight us to the death!"

"Buttercup, he didn't ask for _us_ ," Bubbles said. "He asked for any hero from Townsville! Although, I bet heroes from outside Townsville have come too."

"Probably. Hey, I even saw Major Glory flying in when we were on our way here!"

"Major Glory? That weird hyper-macho superhero? Why would _he_ be here?"

"Beats me, but we've definitely got to beat this Freiyz guy ourselves before that glory hog gets himself hurt."

Nim came to an abrupt stop as we almost bumped into her.

"Hey, I just have one piece of advice to give you," she said, speaking slowly. "Lord Freiyz is… an indescribably, impossibly strong monster. The strongest I've ever seen. A lot of people really respect him. But I really respect you three instead. Without you, Monster Island wouldn't be where it is today. Obviously, not many people share this sentiment. If they hear you saying anything bad about Lord Freiyz, or referring to him casually without his title like you did just now… well, I don't want you to die in agony before you even _meet_ him."

" _Our_ deaths?" Buttercup said, a mischievous grin on her face. "It's this Freiyz guy who should be watching out! He's never met anybody like us! Ain't that right, Blossom? Blossom?"

"Something seems odd… Monster Island wouldn't be where it is? And what do you mean 'city'?"

"I mean, _this_." Nim brushed a big banana leaf out of the way, revealing a valley before us. I expected there to be a river flowing through it, perhaps a waterfall somewhere further upstream. Instead, I was greeted by a big, bustling city unlike any I'd ever seen before.

It was nothing like Townsville, even if it was just as busy. Instead, this city was more like Venice (and yes, I've been there before). There were enormous waterways instead of streets, filled with gorgeous oversized gondolas. You'd expect there to be Italian villas and Roman buildings wherever there was land, but instead we were greeted by wide buildings in a variety of almost haphazard styles. Some were more like wooden shacks, others medieval castles, and some still like a store or apartment you'd expect to see in Townsville. What they all had in common was the layers they were placed in.

While Townsville was almost vertical, with everything rising to the sky in giant skyscrapers, this place instead had buildings placed on layers or big canopies. You would have one building on the ground floor. Then, placed on steel stilts and platforms would be the second layer above that, directly over the first building. And on top of that layer would be another building. Since every set of stilts was a different height, the variation was like a feast to the eyes, and filled with ingenious designs, like using platforms at higher levels as shade for the levels below. If humans lived here, I would wonder what the point of this maddening complexity was. Of course, there wasn't a single human in sight.

Diving out of the rivers was a school of fish men, with varying degrees of fishiness about them. Walking on the sidewalks alongside the waterways were various slimes, blobs, tentacle monsters, beasts, and hulking monstrosities, of all shapes and sizes. Literally. I did not know what that phrase really meant until I saw a triangle with legs tip its top hat to a giant number four before carrying on its way.

Bird monsters and monkey folk swooped and swung across the stilts, flying across the skies like a living canopy. A pterodactyl hopped across roofs as if it was trying to teach itself to fly. It was like a regular city, but everything was, like, three times bigger, and filled with monsters.

None of us had words. Not even Alice with her cold calculations, or Gina with her endless curiosity. Even Bubbles who looked like she could have imagined this place stayed quiet. Nim smiled, like she had been waiting to see our jaws drop to the floor.

"You look surprised! What, did you expect us to live in caves and drag around clubs?"

"Maybe?" I said. She laughed, a genuine one and not some evil cackle that was common of the forces of chaos.

"No…. Monsters like to be comfortable as much as you humans do. Welcome to Districtville! Would you like a tour?"

It wasn't like we had much of a choice. We followed her down to the city, ogling everything with wide eyes. We walked through the crowded sidewalks, trying not to bump into any of the monsters, or even _touch_ them. They seemed surprisingly used to this, but they still stared at us when they thought we weren't looking. Some weren't even that polite, openly glaring at the Powerpuffs, or even spitting at their feat. Normally Nim would just glare at them and they would back down, even though most of them were three or four times her size.

It just hit me then how tiny Nim was, and how small we were too. Nim was just a little taller than us, but most of the monsters averaged around ten feet tall, with various, seemingly haphazard designs. Everything else was suitably scaled up too. It was hard to tell from afar, but up close, the buildings were massive, and most doors were at least big enough to fit an Indian Elephant through them.

We boarded a massive gondola as Nim was pointing out the various sights that we could see and how to get to them.

"So, this is basically Districtville!" Nim said.

"How come we never knew about this place before?" Blossom asked. "We've been to Monster Island before, but we never found anything like this."

"You probably didn't go very far in. Otherwise, I can't imagine you would have left alive. Besides, we don't really associate with you humans a lot, apart from occasionally destroying your buildings and eating your civilians. You know, the usual."

"But the monsters we fight are normally a bit… bigger."

"That's because of which city we're in, and the different classes of monsters. Not all monsters are born equal you know. We come in three distinct types, or classes. Small types, like myself, can be anywhere between half a metre to three metres tall. Medium types are from there up to about five metres. Those two types live in Districtville. The ones that like attacking your city are Large, or 'Classic' types, and they can get as big as a skyscraper! They do pop up here sometimes, but they're just too big to live here permanently. They have their own place up in the mountains, but none of us really know that much about it. You can only enter and leave alive if you were invited, and that doesn't happen a lot."

"Yeah, that's great and all, but how is this boat moving?" I asked. "There's nobody steering it or anything." I shouldn't have asked. A splash and a rush of water burst up on the side of the boat, causing all of us to leap back in alarm. Hanging onto the side of the boat was a monster with long red hair, grey scales instead of skin, and red fins on the side of her face. She looked at Nim with her large, unblinking green eyes, then at us. She smiled, showing off enormous shark teeth in her mouth.

"Hey Nim! They look kinda cute!" the shark lady said. "You having them for dinner?"

"Angel! Of course not! What kind of person do you think I am?"

"Whatever you say. Just give me a call after work if you change your mind." She ducked back down, probably beneath the boat to propel it forward. Nim rolled her eyes.

"Sorry about that. Angel can be pretty nosy. Don't worry about what she said! After all, I'm a vegan!"

"Wait, so when she said 'having them for dinner', she didn't mean eating dinner _with_ us, she meant…."

"Here we are!" The gondola came to a stop, now in a different part of town. In front of us was a very different type of building. This looked more like what you would expect from Townsville, being a towering skyscraper that reached for the clouds. Placed on either side of it were two enormous bronze statues that looked suspiciously like our old friend, Bushido the cyclops. On top of the enormous front door was a neon sign written 'The Final Destination'. That kind of foreshadowing was just a _little_ bit too heavy for my tastes.

"Welcome to _The Final Destination_ hotel, a last minute pit stop for all guests of Monster Island."

"When you say 'last minute', what's your definition of 'last'? Saffron asked. You know, just a little concerned for our mortality. Nim completely brushed off the question.

"Don't worry yourself with the small details! Come on in!" We entered the building, and I have to say that it was pretty impressive. If Cleopatra lived in the twenty first century, I was sure that she would approve of the hotel.

There were beautiful tapestries hanging from the golden walls, turquoise strips running throughout it every couple of feet. There was _some_ kind of writing in the walls, but I couldn't read any of it. The chairs were also made out of solid gold, with beautiful blue cushions and scarlet rugs and coffee tables, all being used by the grossest of abominations ever. And this was just the lounge!

We crammed ourselves into an elevator as the door closed shut. And of course, the elevator was made of—you guessed it—solid gold. Nim pressed a button on the complexly labelled elevator and swiped a card across a card reader. The whole thing shot towards the sky.

Like seriously, this thing didn't just rise. It was like it was fired from a cannon! We were flattened against the elevator floor, struggling against the g force while Nim stood up straight and perfectly calm. A moment later, the elevator came to an abrupt stop and nearly slammed us into the ceiling. It opened up to reveal a hallway, with a door on the opposite end. Nim promptly walked out and got it open, and I couldn't help but feel like she was calling us wimps in her head.

There was a queen sized bed in the middle of the room, although it was nothing compared to _my_ bed. It looked comfortable enough, in its own quiet little way. There was a mini fridge beneath the bedside table, and a plasma screen TV on the wall so you could watch TV from the comfort of your bedroom.

"A little on the shabby side, but it will do," I said as I plopped down on the bed. "Hey, wait, what're you-oof!" Saffron unceremoniously tackled me, knocking the both of us into a sprawling mess. I extricated myself from the mess. "What're you doing?!" And her reply?

"It looked like fun!"

"Tackling me counts as _fun_? What if I had fallen off and hurt myself?! Just one of my fingernails is worth more than your whole wardrobe!"

"Ooh! Me too, me too!"

"No!" Bubbles joined in, body slamming the both of us. Of course, that meant that Buttercup _had_ to join in, but _why_ did she decide to add her own flair with an _elbow drop_?

It was only a matter of seconds before the whole thing had somehow escalated into a massive pillow fight, the only people still maintaining any semblance of their sanity being Blossom and Nim. Blossom just shook her head, but I could tell that she wanted to join in. And she _did_ when some ragamuffin got a well-aimed shot in her face (okay, that 'ragamuffin' was myself. I couldn't resist).

It was all fun and games until a pillow slammed into the screen.

We all froze as the screen tilted on its axis, threatening to slam into a thousand dollar pile on the floor. By some blessed miracle, it _didn't_ fall, but it did turn on. And what else could they be showing but Hero TV?

"… _Live from Monster Island folks_ ," a voice was saying, with the drone of helicopter blades in the background. The camera quality could have been better, and it obviously wasn't too steady since it was a bird's eye view. We were looking into a giant square platform made of hundreds of red sandstone tiles, almost half the size of a football pitch. Standing in the middle of this stone arena were two people. Or rather, one person on their back, and the other person standing over them.

The guy who was knocked out looked like some kind of hero, complete with a goofy looking bright red costume with blue underwear—sorry, 'overshorts'—on top. His cape was in tatters and he looked a lot worse. The guy standing over him was another matter.

He was _definitely_ a monster, but I couldn't really tell what else he was. A shark? A crocodile? A snake? I just… didn't know!

His grey scales looked like they could cut you on touch, and his hair was seaweed green, dancing every which way it could on his head like it was alive. Sometimes it was spiked up, other times it tied itself in a ponytail. I couldn't see him too well through the camera, but his golden armour was making my eyes hurt.

" _It looks like Gigawatt's high voltage maximum current attack didn't do a single thing against this monster of an opponent! Wait, it looks like Gigawatt is… I don't believe it! He's still going! Against all odds, he's still fighting in the name of justice!"_ The camera zoomed in as the red spandex guy tried pushing himself back up on shaky knees. How fantastic if he managed to get all the way up instead of being stomped back into the ground? Even worse, he slammed into the earth with enough power to make a small crater. Gigawatt stayed completely still.

Gigawatt's opponent clenched his fist and raised it in the air, ready to deliver a finishing blow. Then, he lowered it and simply folded his arms. With the most dissatisfied heel spin I had ever seen in my life, he marched away from his defeated enemy as a bunch of other small monsters all gathered around him, picking him up and carrying him away.

" _It can't be…. Even the noble Gigawatt was no match for this menace?! That's another hero down and sent off to the holding cells! Is there truly nobody who's heroic enough to stop this threat?!_ "

"Blossom," Bubbles asked, "what's going to happen to that guy?"

"If we win, he'll be freed from his cell and we'll all get to go home."

"And if we lose?"

Blossom remained silent. It was like a black cloud had just filled the room. She didn't need to say anything. We already knew the answer. We had to win. We had no choice but to win, before anybody could get killed…."

* * *

 **AN: I'm kinda in a rut right now. I'm not bled dry of inspiration. Quite the opposite actually, I'm full of ideas! But... I'm just tired. I'm behind schedule, my chapters are running out, I'm losing confidence in this junk, and the real world decided to kick me in the teeth. I can't focus on my fanfic right now. I can barely focus on _reading_ the darn stuff, let alone reviewing or writing. I just want to sleep. So I have about two more chapter updates (give or take) before I'm going on a little production break. Don't worry, I'm not gonna stop writing. I'm barely a third of the way through! There's still so many more glamorous misadventures for our favourite villain-turned-antihero! But for now, you'll get chapter ten, and then eleven before I go on a much needed break. I'm really sorry guys, I'll try to get back to writing and uploading as soon as possible!**

 **So, shoutout to Orlder for favouriting this... hey wait a second... haven't you been on here before? You _have_ haven't you? I must have made a shoutout for a follow. Well, I guess I leveled up from a follow to a fav then! Okay, thank you good sir! Now carry on with your day!**


	10. CUE DARTH VADER'S THEME

**CHAPTER 10: CUE DARTH VADER'S THEME**

We were waiting for the moment when we would die.

As long as I didn't think about that, it wasn't so bad. We had television, and the food and drinks were all on the house. We could go wherever we wanted as long as we remained on the hotel grounds. The hotel was huge, and had a massive multi levelled swimming pool, complete with a waterfall. There were never any carnivorous monsters in it either. They had a different time slot. It would have been great to spend a relaxing evening!

Of course, we still had less than twenty four hours to save Townsville. No pressure.

"This stinks!" Buttercup yelled. We'd all gathered at the swimming pool since none of us really felt like watching Townsville's heroes get punched to jelly. Blossom had stayed behind in her room though, even though her siblings were out lounging with us. Her loss.

Personally, I was going to take advantage of the situation while I could. I'd dressed up in my best and brightest one-piece swimsuit, though I wasn't going anywhere _near_ the water. I kicked back on a beach chair, making sure that that the umbrella kept the sun out of my face, and decided to take a power nap. Although, that was hard to do with Buttercup sitting in the seat next to me, moaning and complaining the whole time.

Bubbles and Saffron were in the water, splashing each other and doing other dumb kiddy stuff. Can you imagine? We were on a mission to save the day, and they were just messing around! They could at _least_ try and look dignified while they did it. Like me!

"Lighten up, Buttercup," Bubbles said. "We'll get our turn to beat up the bad guys. We just have to wait until they call us!"

"Oh great, no problem with that plan, except the longer we wait, the more _heroes get taken out_!"

"Nobody's been called up since that last guy," Bubbles said, losing confidence as her sister raised her voice. "Maybe we'll be lucky and be next?"

"In a whole hotel full of heroes? We're probably the _last_ guys to get here, so we go last too! For all we know, he could _kill_ some of those heroes by accident! _Maybe_ we would go next if we hadn't taken Princess's stupid boat…."

"Hey, first of all, it's a _yacht_ ," I spoke up, feeling irritated as Buttercup sat up, blocking my view of the pool. "Second, don't blame this on _me_! I already explained why this was the safest choice for us!"

"Too bad it's not so safe for everybody else…." She was _really_ starting to annoy me. Didn't she get it? If _we_ got killed instead because we charged in like barbarians, then who would protect Townsville then? She wasn't thinking this through!

"You know what? Fine. Bust your way out of here and head for this Freiyz person yourself. But good luck fighting through an entire city filled with monsters who will jump at your throat in a heartbeat."

"No problem." Buttercup pounded her fist into her palm, and I swear I could feel the impact. "It'll be a challenge for once." I rolled my eyes. There was no getting through to her.

"Whatever you say," I replied as I got out of my seat. If I wanted to sunbathe, then I could wait until I had a better revenue to buy myself somewhere nice. Ooh, maybe I could ask Daddy to buy the hotel for my birthday? Then I could use it whenever I wanted! "I'm going back up to the room. You're all really boring.

"Bye Princess!" Bubbles yelled before Saffron dunked her head under the water. Buttercup just folded her arms, not even addressing me as I returned to the main building.

I had to admit, even though the rooms were just barely adequate for somebody like myself, _The Final Destination_ was beautiful, but it was going to take a while before I got used to the monsters roaming the halls.

I passed by two slime monsters, a minotaur, and a family of three that were completely pink and had a single, _enormous_ eye in their heads (or maybe in place of their heads). Their child stared at me with an eye the size of my torso as I slinked past them and into the elevator. Unfortunately, I had to share the elevator with a sasquatch looking creature twice the height of a normal person, and a centaur whose upper body was dressed like a University Professor with a _Camp Half-Blood_ cap. None of them were trying to hurt me (although Big Foot was glaring at me, even when I tried giving him my winning smile) but I couldn't stop myself from twitching just a little. They were _way_ too close for comfort.

As soon as the elevator stopped, I nearly ran out of there, trying to get as far from them as I could before heading straight to my room. As expected, Blossom was on the bed, the TV still on even as she was scribbling something in a small notebook.

"Trying to come up with a plan?" I asked. She nodded her head.

"They've only been showing the match highlights on here," she began, "so I haven't been able to figure out how strong he is. But I think it's enough to come up with something…."

"You say that as if you're so sure that you're going to beat him."

"I _have_ to. If we fail, Townsville is finished."

"Well, I can't say that I disagree with you. Except, oh you know, _I_ might be the one who saves the day instead."

"This isn't a contest, Princess. All that matters is saving Townsville, so you better take this seriously."

"I _am_ taking this seriously, and that's why I'm saying I'll be the hero this time, _not_ you!"

"Okay then, fine. What's your plan, 'oh great and noble hero'?"

Blossom thinks she's _so_ smart, huh? Just before I could tell her my plan (or give her a piece of my mind), the ground beneath me shook, accompanied by a rumbling in the background.

"An earthquake?" I asked.

"I'm not so sure," Blossom replied nervously. "It… it came from outside…. Buttercup!" Blossom didn't even wait, leaping out of the window in a flash of pink light. I blinked in confusion before grabbing my briefcase off of the floor and diving after her.

After a hair raising five seconds of free-falling, the nanobots climbed out of the briefcase and covered me in the Queen of Hearts set. I would have had an awesome heroic landing and dashed off after Blossom from the ground. Unfortunately, I was too busy splashing into the waterway, startling a nearby group of gossiping mermaids.

 _Ignore them Princess, and their sharp teeth that might tear me apart,_ I thought to myself as I powered up my thrusters and launched myself out of the water. I landed on firm ground and headed off after Blossom.

" _Princess, what's happening?_ " Gina asked.

"I don't know. There was a sound, and then Blossom flew out of the room. She must have picked something up with her super hearing." I ground to a halt as Blossom flew down to the ground, and I could understand why after I looked at the scene.

Buttercup was on the ground in front of the hotel, lying down in a massive crater. There was a crowd gathered around her, including Nim who was crouching down next to her, checking that she was okay.

"Buttercup!" Blossom cried, practically teleporting to her side. "What happened?" Buttercup groaned, trying to rouse herself.

"Ugh, it was that guy again," she said. "That one eyed freak from last time…."

"That's racist!" A small cyclops yelled. For all I knew he had a point, but that didn't matter. Buttercup was as tough as nails. Something about her getting knocked down again didn't add up, even _if_ it was the same monster from last time, but I couldn't figure out. Besides, where did it even _go_?

I never got to ask this question out loud because the crowd split down the middle. Walking between them was the same figure that we'd seen on TV just a few hours ago, but seeing him through a silver screen was completely different to meeting him in person.

For a start, he was at least two metres tall with eyes the colour of the sun, burning into everything they stared into. His skin was steel grey, almost blue, and his seaweed green hair had decided to be spiked up everywhere so his head looked a little bit like a blowfish. His armour must have been forged from the bones of a golden giant, because even though it was glittering gold, there were skulls on the shoulder pads and actual ribs over his rib cage. Even up close, I wasn't sure exactly what he was, but nobody else even went _near_ him.

Normally, this was the point where one of the Powerpuffs would simply glance at him, put two and two together, and charge at him in a tear filled rage. For a moment it looked like Blossom was going to do exactly that, but she stopped, simply glaring at him.

"You must be the guy they call 'Lord Freiyz'," Blossom said.

"And you must be the leader of the Powerpuff Girls," he replied. The air felt tense enough to be cut with a knife. Actually, the scene wouldn't have changed much if the two of them were holding blades against each other's throats. "Your sister is a fool, but her performance was impressive nonetheless."

"Did you do this?"

"No…. There wouldn't be anything left if I did. It was my comrade, Bushido." I was still wondering where Bushido was even hidden when I looked up. I almost screamed, but that would have been too undignified. Instead, I let out a startled gasp as one of the statues started moving. Apparently, he _wasn't_ a bronze statue. He'd just gotten the most intense spray-tan ever. His camouflage explained how he got a hit in on Buttercup at least. He opened his eye, blinking out giant flecks of paint as he stared down at the scene before him.

"I am ashamed that I let her get so far," he boomed. "Even though I had duelled with her before, her strength caught me off guard."

"Do not be. The situation could have easily turned fatal for you. She is far more powerful than your average human."

"What do you want?" Blossom spat. Freiyz gave her a smile of superiority as he gave her a gentlemanly bow.

"I'm simply here to graciously accept your challenge," he said. "I have heard _much_ about you, Powerpuff Girl. I'm sure everybody on Monster Island knows who you are. If I had known that you had arrived, I would have made you jump the queue already. I'm sure you're itching for a chance to duel with me."

"I don't want to do _anything_ other than stop you and save Townsville."

"Of course. After all, that's what you do, being a 'hero'. This way please."

"Hey, wait just a minute!" I roared. It was one thing to be _completely_ ignored while everybody treated this 'Fries' person like the president of the world, but for monsters— _monsters_ to treat the Powerpuffs like some kind of celebrities as well? That they should jump ahead in the cue and get a shot at fame before _me_? Unthinkable! "That's totally not fair! What about me? I deserve to get a shot at the top just as much as her!"

Lord Freiyz looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"And who are you supposed to be?"

"I… _what_? How have you _not_ heard of me? I'm Princess Morbucks, and I'm the hero who's gonna-"

One second he was by Blossom, and the next he was standing right in front of me. For a moment, it was like time itself had slowed down as he swung a fist towards my face. I stared in horror, my body frozen to the spot as I looked at my approaching death. Just inches away from my nose, the fist stopped, but it may as well have hit me. I was sent flying just from the wind, tumbling through the air before I slammed into the other cyclops statue, the whole thing practically exploding as it crumbled to bits around me.

I fell to the ground, grunting in pain every time a particularly large slab of bronze or rock crushed me, bouncing off my armour. If I was wearing any other suit, I would have _died_. How often do heroes almost die again?

" _Princess! Are you alright?_ " Gina asked, her voice sounding distant in my ears. " _I saw the hit. Your vitals are going crazy!_ "

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't answer her. I felt like I was about to black out, and I could feel something wet running down my forehead, into my eyes. The last words I heard?

"That must be why I've never heard of you. Now come, Blossom. Let us begin our match…."

. . .

I woke up feeling like I had been slammed into a locker.

No, I've never been slammed into a locker, but I was pretty sure that it was something like this. I felt like I was going to fly away and out of my head, but my body was trapping me in the world of the living. Saffron and Nim were talking (probably about something stupid) in chairs by the foot of the bed when they heard me groaning in pain.

Saffron stood up and headed toward my side so she was kneeling down next to me.

"Hey, Princess, you good?" she asked. "I heard you took a pretty nasty hit."

"Um… kind of?" I'm not even sure _what_ that counted as. He didn't even touch me, but I nearly died. "That's no ordinary monster. Fighting him one on one like that… we don't stand a chance."

"I know," Nim said. "That wouldn't be any fun for him either. Instead, Lord Freiyz ordered all three Powerpuff Girls to fight him at once."

"Then they should be able to take him down no problem!" Saffron yelled. "After all, they're the Powerpuff Girls!"

Nim didn't look so sure, and most likely, I didn't either. I'd fought them more times than I could count. If anybody could beat him, then it would be those three. And while I was pretty mad about giving up the spotlight to them, I already _knew_ that I couldn't fight that guy, so they could take him. And yet, a part of me felt strange. Like there was this gnawing, baby worm with butterfly wings in my stomach, trying to eat its way to my cold, bitter heart. I didn't really know what emotion it was, or if it even _was_ an emotion, but I know I had a bad feeling about things.

"Let's see if they're on TV," I said. Nim nodded, turning on the screen. It was already switched to Hero TV, and sure enough, we were looking at a bird's eye view of the arena. It took me a second to realise that the red patches of rock weren't just made from different types of stones….

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup were standing in the middle of the arena. They weren't in their trademark dresses this time. Instead, they'd opted to go with something more practical. Colour coded jeans and white t-shirts with _Mr. Universe_ logos on them. Standing opposite them was Freiyz, looking perhaps _slightly_ amused.

" _They're finally here!_ " the guy in the chopper yelled. " _The long awaited battle between this force of nature and Townsville's favourite heroes, The Powerpuff Girls! With all of our lives along with the lives of all the heroes on the island in the balance, will they be able to turn the tide against this monstrous threat? Oh wait, they're saying something…._ "

The camera shifted to one that was on the ground, catching them in the middle of their conversation.

"… battle has arrived," Freiyz started. "Try not to bore me too quickly. I have high hopes for you."

"Don't look down on us!" Buttercup yelled. "Don't you know that we're the Powerpuff Girls?"

"Yeah!" Bubbles added. "We've probably saved the world more times than you've taken showers!"

" _Oh_! Did you just here that? She said you _stink_!"

I was sure that Freiyz was going to get mad and throw himself right into a villainous monologue, but he simply chuckled to himself.

"You seem awfully confident considering your condition," he said. That shut Buttercup up _really_ quickly. Blossom looked at her questioningly.

"Buttercup? What's he talking about?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter, let's go!" In a flash of blinding light, Buttercup charged for him. I could barely tell what happened, but I could see that she was slapped right back to her siblings. She dug her feet and hand into the ground, grinding herself to a stop, then charged again, this time followed by her sisters.

Blossom and Bubbles flew around Freiyz while Buttercup kept punching Freiyz, all of her blows getting stopped effortlessly by the monster with one hand. He grabbed her fists and slammed her into the ground before kicking her at least fifty feet into the air.

Blossom and Bubbles flew in from the sides, aiming kicks at his head. Freiyz looked pretty bored, leaping high into the air and leaving them to crash into the ground, hitting nothing but dirt.

It was almost like he was flying as he caught up with Buttercup, grabbing her by the ankle and chucking her back to the ground.

She slammed into her siblings like a meteor, an explosion of compressed air and chunks of dirt rising into the air. The dust hadn't even cleared yet when all three Powerpuffs flew out of it, their fists clenched as they streaked towards him.

They surrounded him in bright flashes of pink, green, and blue, circling and attacking the way they did against so many monsters, but he wasn't fazed in the slightest.

It was like he was a living whirlwind! His limbs were everywhere, stopping every blow faster than my eyes could see. It was like his limbs multiplied and were blocking, parrying, and striking everything that got within reach. I could just barely make out a kick that sent Bubbles half a kilometre away and into a distant theme park, a slap that sent Blossom hurtling back into the crater they had just leapt out of, and an arm grabbing Buttercup by the throat.

"Pathetic!" he roared as he fell back to the earth. He smashed Buttercup into the ground, still keeping a tight grip around her throat as he started running, dragging her through the dirt and tearing the tiles to pieces as he headed for the edge of the arena. "You're all unsatisfactory, but _you_ are by far the weakest! You're still injured from your fight against Bushido! As you are now, you're less than a piece of trash!"

He yanked her out of the ground and wound his arm up like he was preparing to throw a baseball. He threw her into the clouds, and we simply watched as she disappeared into the stratosphere.

"Buttercup!" Blossom yelled as she crawled out of her hole. "Bubbles, go get her! I'll hold him off!"

I was about to question how Bubbles could even hear her when I remembered they had super hearing. She flew off into the sky in a flash of blue light, leaving Blossom standing before Freiyz. He marched towards her, twisting his shoulder like it was just a little bit stiff. On the other hand, Blossom was already panting, clutching her own shoulder in pain.

Fighting him alone—even for two seconds—was definitely a bad idea. But this was Blossom, and she was trying to keep Buttercup out of danger. It would take at _least_ the three of them to match up to him. But now?

Well, if Blossom knew what kind of danger she was in, then she didn't care. They charged at each other, their fists colliding in the middle of the arena. A crater spread, the shockwaves even knocking the camera off balance. The two disappeared completely, only to reappear a few moments later with the sound of a sonic boom, floating in the sky, both of them trying to kick each other. They disappeared again, reappearing moments later in a different position.

And then the fight _really_ started.

There were just explosions going off in the sky everywhere, little pockets of air getting disrupted and the noise of the sound barrier shattering. The camera couldn't keep up with it, and our naked eyes probably wouldn't be able to either.

"Are they moving faster than the speed of sound?" Saffron asked in awe.

"Several times," I replied blankly.

"Then there's no way Blossom can lose!"

"Saffron, take another look."

"But she's fighting him equally! All we have to do is wait for Buttercup and Bubbles to return!"

"Saffron, they haven't gotten a _single hit in_."

"Wait… what?"

Even with what little I could see, none of it looked encouraging. Blossom getting punched, kicked, and elbowed to bits before just springing back for more. It was only a matter of time before…."

"We can't let them die!" I exclaimed. I got up before I could wait for a reply, heading for the drawer to fetch my suits. The Damage suit was waiting for me, gleaming and ready for battle, but I swept it to the side. This was no job for a useless AI. I needed the real deal, somebody who could act like my second set of eyes and ears.

"Princess, this is unlike you, going to save the Powerpuffs," Saffron said with a sly smile. "Are you actually warming up to-"

"Shut up Saffron, this isn't about them!" I spat back as I headed for the bathroom to change. She recoiled, her expression falling before I slammed the door in her face. I should have probably felt bad, but I didn't care. Didn't she understand that if the Powerpuff Girls failed then there was _nobody_ who could stop that monster? This wasn't about the fame or the television or the stupid game anymore, and clearly none of the other heroes realised this if they were staying put in their rooms. If they lost, it was game over, for _all_ of us! We couldn't let that happen, no matter what!

I changed as quickly as I could and turned on the comms.

"Gina, are you watching the fight?" I asked as I pulled on my boots.

" _Yeah. It's just so intense, I can't…. Saffron, you can't let Blossom fight alone, and we can't count on backup. I calculated the speed and trajectory of Buttercup's exit, and she might have left earth's atmosphere. It will be a while before Bubbles can get her back._ "

"Wait, she was _thrown_ into space?"

" _Princess… be careful_."

My heart was racing when I opened the door, my jet pack already warming up so I could punch my way straight out of the wall at full speed, but standing in front of me was Saffron.

"Move Saffron, I've gotta go and do hero things." She shook her head.

"If you go out there on your own, you're gonna die."

"Please. I'm Princess Morbucks. I'm too rich to die."

"Tell that to Steve Jobs."

"You know what I mean! I'm equipped like a tank! I'll be fine!"

"Not on your own you won't. I'm coming with you."

"Wha… _are you serious right now?_ We're in a town full of monsters, and you're just an ordinary human! You'll just get in my way!"

"And you won't get in the way of the girls? Last I checked, you were a human too, without even a _single superpower_!"

"Well so what? I don't want you to go and that's it, end of story!"

"Then I won't let you leave until you let me."

"I can just break a hole in the roof and fly out."

"Then I'll grab your leg and follow you."

"Are you stupid? The falling debris will kill you!"

"Then you better let me come with you willingly instead!"

We were glaring at each other, both of us resolved to get what we wanted. I was _furious_! Who did she think she was anyway, talking back to _me_ of all people? I was the only person who could save Townsville now, the one person who could tip the scales, and it was imperative that I did this _right_! There was no way I could focus if Saffron was blundering about the battlefield, waiting to get flattened.

Before any of us could do anything we would regret (well, I _never_ regret but I wasn't sure about Saffron), Nim spoke up.

"You want to beat Lord Freiyz, right? You know that if the other monsters found out you were going to interrupt the match, you could get in _serious_ trouble…."

I could see where this was going, and I didn't like it.

"What are you trying to say, that you'll stop us?"

She shook her head.

"I don't want to _stop_ you. I want to _help_ you."

"You want to help us… to defeat your leader."

"He's not really a 'leader' so much as he's an uncontrollable demon. You don't understand how powerful he is. If we let him keep fighting, then he's going to destroy the Powerpuff Girls, and then all of Townsville."

"Isn't that great for you guys?" Saffron asked. "The Powerpuff Girls kind of beat up a lot of monsters, don't they?"

"Yes, but we _need_ them to keep beating up monsters. Remember how I said that Districtville wouldn't be where it is today without them? Well, Townsville is like a hotspot for monsters all over the world. It attracts the greatest and the toughest to come and fight the Powerpuff Girls. You probably know that monsters that get some good hits on the Powerpuff girls after fighting them are hailed as heroes, right? How do you think it became like that?"

"I dunno, one _really_ bored monster got bored and was like 'I wonder if those three children would like to have a boxing match' or something."

Nim laughed, and for some reason it sounded a little bit like there was a light drizzle coming from somewhere behind her throat.

"You're not far from the mark. The Powerpuff Girls are some of the strongest beings on the continent, if not the world. They're perfect training for monsters trying to hone their strength and skills. To become fine-tuned warriors, fighters, soldiers, or just to meet new people and stay in shape. Townsville is like a monstrous super gym, and that's all thanks to the Powerpuff Girls. And on their way to and from that gym, Monsters stop and recover at Monster Island, where they know they'll meet more of their kind.

"You might not believe it, but the monsters here are pretty peaceful. We don't care about causing trouble. We survive by trading and dealing with the other monsters, the 'tourists' I guess. There's so many monsters with so many skills that pass through every day. Some of them even settle here permanently. They've all chipped in and built this town up from scratch, all thanks to the Powerpuff Girls. This place _literally_ wouldn't exist without them, and I think every monster knows that and, to some degree, is grateful."

"But Lord Freiyz is a different matter, isn't he?" Saffron asked. "He just wants to fight tough opponents to prove a point. To prove he's the strongest."

"Now I get it," I said. "It's supply and demand. Monsters are so strong, there's a limited supply of training for them that isn't too weak or too strong. The only people they can fight are the military, but the collateral is way too extreme, and losing means certain death. But there's always the Powerpuff Girls, limited edition punching bags, and they're in _high_ demand. If that supply drops, then monsters will leave in search of a different market. It's almost like you monsters and the Powerpuffs are business partners!"

"It's even worse than that though…. If Lord Freiyz really does win, then he'll drag the rest of Monster Island into a conquest to take over Townsville, and then the whole of California with it. Lord Freiyz is strong. If anybody can do it, it's him, and the giant monsters should be fine. But everybody else? The small and medium sized monsters that make up most of Districtville? We'll be annihilated by the military and the heroes, even if we try to stay peaceful. This conquest will turn into a monster genocide, and Lord Freiyz doesn't care. After all, the weak aren't worthy of being called monsters…."

Saffron and I looked at each other. None of us were going to budge on our original plans, but with Nim too? This was a compromise we could take. Saffron could come with and watch me, and I wouldn't have to worry about her (sorry, _get distracted_ by her. I never worry about others) since Nim would watch over Saffron for me. That way I could do my job, and Saffron would _think_ she's protecting or fighting alongside me.

I'm not sure exactly what she was thinking, and I didn't really care as long as she saw the brilliance of this plan. Naturally, she did, because we both nodded our heads in unison and looked back.

"Okay then Nim, you're gonna help us take down Freiyz," I said. Her skin turned paler than milk.

"There's no way _I_ can fight him! He'd destroy me! But I _can_ help you get past the bodyguard, Bushido. He's the reason none of the other heroes have tried double teaming Lord Freiyz yet. He's the giant outside who injured Buttercup. If he catches us leaving, we're dead."

"So it's a stealth mission then!" Saffron yelled. "Hey, Princess, it'll be like that time at school when Gina took over!"

" _I thought we agreed not to talk about that!_ " Gina yelled over my speakers.

"Wait, you were listening?"

" _Yeah, I've been here the whole time, watching and listening from the comfort of a beach chair. So Nim, explain the situation._ "

She looked pretty confused as she stared at my headpiece before clearing her throat.

"Okay, we don't have a lot of time. Bushido has really good smell and hearing."

" _Umm… don't you mean good eyesight?_ "

"That's a myth. Only Elder Cyclopes have good vision. Most ordinary cyclopes like him have pretty normal eyesight, if it's not just kind of bad. Anyway, the second anybody that doesn't sound or smell like a monster leaves, he'll know, and he'll make sure to get rid of them quickly. He's really fast so there's no escaping him, and you can't trick his senses either. But he's still a huge monster, with a lot of weight to lug around. The moment after he swings his weapon, he can't move. That's your chance to take him out, and quickly."

" _Hmm…. Unfortunately, he's using really primitive weapons so I can't do anything to him, and I'm not sure how much I trust myself to hack into whatever strange systems they use here…._ "

It didn't matter _what_ Gina said she could do. An idea was already forming in my head, and it was going to be brilliant. I punched my open palm with a resounding thud.

"I've got it! Alright you plebes, listen up. I'm only gonna explain this once, and we have to execute this in five minutes or less. _This_ is how we're going to bust out of here. It's time for Operation Princess's Awesome Leadership Plan! Or 'OPAL' for short. And it goes like this…."

 **Will Princess be able to hold off Lord Freiyz on her own? Will Princess and Saffron be able to defeat Bushido and make it to her side in time? Will they even be able to do _anything_ against such a monstrous foe? Find out on the next episode of ****_Dragon Ball Z!_**

 **Ugh, I remember the way I _hated_ those cliffhangers! This wasn't much of one, but I still somehow feel bad for this one anyway! So, there's one more chapter left in the Lord Freiyz arc! Next update will determine whether our characters arise victorious or fall to their _doooom_! Actually, with how strong I've made Lord Freiyz, that's actually pretty likely... I was struggling a _lot_ thinking of a way to actually beat him, and if a villain becomes like that, then I tend to let them win and create an intense plot twist...**

 **Anyway! I'll be going on a little break after the next chapter. Not for too long of course, but I won't really be on fanfiction for a while. I'll still reply to reviews which are VERY much appreciated, and if you're lucky I might actually check my PMs, but unless you're talking fanfic or need help with something, it's not too likely. Hmm... Perhaps I should start a blog in the meantime? For now, I'm trying to figure out how to make a video game because I've got this cool idea inspired by Super Robot Wars... that I won't be skilled enough to do for a few years... I'm also watching a bunch of other cartoons I kinda ignored partially as research and partially because they were surprisingly cool. So right now, I'm watching 'Star vs. The Forces of Evil', 'Steven Universe', and 'Miraculous Ladybug' if I can ever get around to it, although I was already occasionally watching that. I think it's good, though it's not quite my thing and didn't get me like the previous two...**

 **Anyway, I'm rambling. Geez I need to start a blog... Who actually read all of this? Okay, if you've read to the bottom, add " The Power of Chicken Wings" to a review of this chapter as proof of your accomplishment! Bonus points if you can use it in a sentence! So, I'm out!**


	11. THE CRIES OF THE ADORING PUBLIC

**I'm so sorry guys, I overestimated myself this time and the chapter was late, and trying to edit it was a nightmare for some reason and it came out even _later_ and everything just went wrong! I'm really sorry, but hopefully this chapter will be able to make it up a little bit, with the thrilling (I hope) conclusion to the Lord Freiyz arc! But first, to the current guest review (I'm just gonna put the actual review here to avoid confusion, because I seem to get a lot of guest reviews)**

 **Guest:** **"Interesting it seams like princess is getting more attention I was hoping the Powerpuff girls would loose but not die and not be able to fight for a very long time and princess would be the one to save the day and get the attention from Townsville and the girls feeling sorry for dowting her."**

 **Me: Thank you for your review! Princess is definitely moving up a little, but whether or not that's a good thing remains to be seen! As for whether the Powerpuffs will win or lose and who saves the day, that remains to be seen... right here!**

 **CHAPTER 11: THE CRIES OF THE ADORING PUBLIC**

It was a beautiful sunny day when the wall collapsed.

No, not _that_ wall. I mean the wall to the _Final Destination's_ fifteenth floor. Like a knight in rocket powered armour, a figure charged out of the wall, slamming into the ground and splintering the pavement. The nearby monsters screamed and ran in terror as they saw this metallic abomination, fleeing from the Queen of Hearts Set.

The knight looked around for its opponent, freezing as it spied the bronze statue that was stirring itself to life, clutching its enormous club with both of its hands. The bronze giant and the iron man stared at one another, both of them paralysed as they calculated all the moves they could make, and what the best course of action was.

The giant figured that he had the upper hand, both figuratively and literally, and raised its club slowly, painstakingly slowly. He swung down, the air almost rippling with the force of its swing.

The club slammed into the ground, the end dipping into the waterway and capsizing a canoe. If I was actually inside the suit, I would have been turned into paste. Good thing I was watching safely from the hole in the wall as the Queen of Hearts separated into a thousand different pieces, all crawling up the club and up Bushido's arms. Bushido tried frantically slapping them off, but any that fell off just flew after him like rockets, climbing into his ears, nose, mouth, and anywhere else they could creep into. His whole head looked like it was covered in fireworks, explosions ringing everywhere.

"Now!" Nim yelled before practically dispersing into the air, turning into a small, angry looking thundercloud. I grabbed Saffron and tucked her under my arm as I dived out the hole in the wall.

I dropped Saffron onto the sidewalk before flying up towards Bushido's head. He was still clutching his face in pain. I wanted to say sorry but I felt _no_ sympathy for this guy after the way he humiliated me last time.

I was feeling pretty hyped for revenge, until I saw him raise his hand and slap me.

I flew like a rocket straight for the water, crashing painfully into it. My vision flickered and my whole body ached. It was only one hit and I already felt like blacking out.

Yeah, humans _definitely_ weren't meant to fight monsters, because this was getting a bit too common.

I could hear somebody calling out to me from above the water. It was blurry and muted, and I was slipping out of consciousness too fast. I felt someone roughly grabbing my by the arm and yanking me out.

I coughed as Saffron dragged me up onto the sidewalk, spluttering out big globs of water

"You can't die here, Princess," she said as she rubbed my back.

"I… had it all under control."

"Sure thing," she chuckled. "Now, get ready for round two."

"Where's Bushido?"

"Dealing with Nim." I looked up at the hulking giant. Its head was completely covered by a cloud, dim flashes of lightning accompanied by almost muted thunderclaps going off. They didn't even look painful. They looked ticklish. But it was buying us time. "How do we do this? The Powerpuffs bounced off the guy, how can _we_ hurt him?"

"We hit him harder. _Duh_."

" _Good luck with that,_ " Gina said. " _You don't have enough power to take him out with conventional means. I'll try analysing him for weaknesses…._ "

"Right. Saffron, keep your head down while I get closer to figure this thing out."

"Hmm…."

"Saffron? Did you even _hear_ me?"

"This thing is basically just a giant person with one eye, right?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"Then that means he's _sort of_ like a human…. Princess, take me with you into the air. I can spot his weak points."

"Wait, really?"

"He has muscles, and muscles have pressure points. Just tap him in the right place and he goes down."

" _I think I can spot some structural weaknesses in his armour too. If those are really his bones, then we're gonna do some_ serious _damage. If not… well, it will look cool breaking them anyway._ "

"Cool? Who cares about cool? I want _glamorous_!" I grabbed Saffron under my arm again and blasted into the air, doing a few corkscrews just to show off before heading towards the monster.

"Take out his arms first," Saffron said. "That way he can't attack you anymore."

"Okay, where do I target?"

"There, just above the funny bone. Then the squishy bit between the shoulders and neck."

"Got it! Gina, reinforce my fists and release my jetpack's limiters."

" _Okey dokey Princess_!"

"And Saffron… don't die."

"What're you talking abo-" I spun onto my back and chucked Saffron as high into the air as I could (Ha! Her screams of terror were hilarious), then with as much power as I could get out of the jetpack, headed for Bushido. It felt like there was a furnace on my back and my fists were made of lead. Perfect for knocking out one eyed giants.

If he noticed me, he didn't show any signs. I wound up my fist and headed for his elbow, charging it with electricity. I punched with everything I had, power coursing through my whole body and into Bushido's arm. He howled in pain as I used my own punch to bounce off of him and go around to his front.

He swung his other arm at me, but this time I was ready, swerving away at the last second. If it wasn't for my punch to his eyes (oh, and Nim. Nim's cloud helped), then I would have been taken out of the air again, and probably stayed down for the count too. I headed towards his neck, charging my fists up with as much power as I could muster before digging them in.

I wasn't sure how much damage the lightning was doing, but I know my blows were taking their toll on him. He tried to slap me off, but he was completely off the mark, slapping himself in the shoulder instead.

I dived off of him and flew away before he could teach himself to use his arm again. I looked up just in time to see Saffron falling, catching her and levelling off from my flight to absorb as much of the impact as possible.

"That was terrifying!" she shrieked.

"I can't help it! I can't punch this guy while carrying you!"

"Why didn't you just put me down instead?!"

"It wouldn't have been as fun."

"I… but…. Fine! Just be careful!"

" _Princess, focus_ ," Gina urged. " _I've spotted a weakness in its breastplate. I'm sending you the data, so good luck!_ "

The process repeated, and continued like that for five or ten minutes, with Saffron and Gina taking turns to call out weaknesses. Every time it looked like Bushido came close to smashing us, Nim's cloud would thicken around his head.

Finally, it looked like Bushido was running out of steam. His arms were hanging limply by his sides, and he was kneeling down, his legs practically finished. His armour was broken and splintered, bits of it crumbling off.

" _The enemy is down…_ "

"Now's your chance!"

I roared as I headed towards Bushido one more time with a fistful of lightning and a jetpack on the brink of exploding. Bushido swatted Nim away, his eye red with irritated tears streaming down his face, but he was already too late. The only thing waiting for him was my fist.

I screamed with rage as I punched him in the nose with everything I had, sending all of my suit's remaining power into the blow. He didn't stand a chance.

He roared in pain, the ground and air trembling from his cry as he toppled over, still being forced to the ground by my fist.

We crashed into the waterway together in a weird mix of water and monster goo, the crashing waves from his impact dragging me away down the channel in a cold, wet vortex.

I didn't even know which way was up or down, so I know I wasn't the one who turned my jetpack on again, shooting me out of the water and onto the pavement by the side.

My head was still spinning, my fist was sore, and I felt like throwing up. I didn't even _want_ to think about the intense shrinkage my hair was going to go through after so many dips in the water. But my bitter enemy was in _much_ worse shape.

The whole upper half of his body was in the water, bubbles coming up around his head. His legs were still on land, although they were covered in massive purple welts and bruises. He wasn't so much as twitching.

Nim came down in a little ball of fluff, materialising back into her normal form when she touched the ground.

"That was totally awesome!" she yelled. "I can't believe you did that! I can't believe _we_ did that! Two humans and a small sized monster took out a _giant_! That's just… oh man, that's impossible!"

"Geez, that was something," Saffron gasped, clutching her chest. "I honestly thought I was gonna die!"

"But you didn't! We beat him!" Nim seized Saffron in a massive hug, picking her up off the ground and twirling her around and around.

"Gah! Nim, stop! I… I'm gonna be sick…."

I could feel a tiny laugh bubbling up inside me, trying to burst its way out of my throat. If it wasn't for my _own_ nausea, I'd be feeling pretty hyped too, but not because of how _big_ he was.

Every time I'd seen Bushido, he'd defeated the Powerpuff Girls. They charged in with all their super powers and couldn't even touch him. But (almost) single-handedly with just a super suit and my wits, I'd managed to defeat him. _Me_! If I could take _this_ guy out….

" _Princess, we won!_ " Gina yelled. I shook any useless thoughts out of my head.

"Well _obviously_ we did. But now we've got to deal with that wannabe tyrant. Nim, where is he?"

"Oh, right! Umm…. Keep heading north until you're at the outer limits of Districtville."

"That's kind of far, isn't it?" Saffron asked in concern. "Princess, you can still fly us there, right?"

" _No!_ " Gina shrieked, nearly scaring me out of my suit, and probably my skin too. " _Princess, you've pushed the_ Fibre-o-tomic _to its limit. Anymore and the whole thing might just explode!_ "

"Well then, how are we meant to get there?"

"Umm, guys," I interrupted, pointing up at the sky. "We've got bigger problems."

I could see a dot in the distance, getting bigger and bigger with each passing moment. It didn't take long for all of us to figure out what was happening. We leaped out of the way just in time as it crashed into the ground where we were a split second ago. I buried my head under my arms as bits of shattered rock sprayed onto my back. When I couldn't hear anything anymore, I got up.

There was a big crater in the ground where we were, and a big fissure leading from the hole in the ground to the water. Blossom's hand appeared over the side of the waterway as she pulled herself out, her hair and clothes soaking wet. She was covered in big purple bruises and painful looking gashes, but her expression was furious instead of pained.

"Blossom?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

She didn't bother answering. She just blasted off into the air, leaving behind a crater the size of a small building, evaporating all of the water around her. I looked up at the sky expecting to see her, and sure enough, I could see her pink tail, the traces of where she'd been flying and where she was heading to. At the other side of the horizon was a blue and gold tail, heading towards her at the speed of a fighter jet.

The two clashed, and it was like a bomb had gone off in the air. I yelped in alarm as flurries of wind slammed into us, forcing us into the ground, even bowling Saffron over completely. I could barely see what was happening with all of the wind, but I could see the two fighters were clashing in the air, slamming into each other and swirling around and around in a hypnotic dance.

The pink streak got slammed down again, this time crashing into a building and knocking the whole thing over into the water. The blue streak followed after her, causing a massive explosion when they hit the water. I swear I had my eyes on them, but a second later there was another explosion at the other side of town, the two streaks coming out of the ground there and leaving behind utter carnage. They were completely uncontrollable, forces of nature that wreaked havoc on everything they touched without even realising it, too engrossed in their own battle to understand the chaos that was erupting around them.

"No! The city!" Nim cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "They were meant to stay away!"

"Okay, then we just have to beat Freiyz before he can cause more damage, right?" Saffron asked.

"No, it doesn't work that way! You _cannot beat him_ if you're holding back, and if you go all out here…."

" _The whole city will be destroyed,_ " Gina finished. How dire the situation really was hit us just then. Another explosion shook us out of our horror-filled stupor. " _Princess, Saffron, you_ have _to stop him_!"

Maybe I shouldn't have cared so much about protecting that weird little town. After all, monsters were monsters. What did it matter if a few more of them got smashed to take out one big monster? But I was watching the Powerpuffs do what they did best: smash everything, all in the name of their 'justice', and that bothered me.

I stared as merfolk tried to rescue the monsters that had been toppled into the water earlier. I watched as others blindly ran, slunk, and flew in terror away from the carnage, knowing that it was more than they could handle. Back in Townsville, the Powerpuffs would be viewed as heroes. But over this side? They were just as villainous as Lord Freiyz.

"Gina, get the Queen of Hearts operational," I said. "We have to stop this. _Now_."

* * *

And so began my journey to the highest point in Districtville. Anywhere tall and visible. I asked Gina to aim the directional mic at the sky and give me a play-by-play of the fight so I always knew what was happening. In the ten minutes it took me to find my goal, something strange happened.

They stopped fighting.

Blossom was hovering in the air, and Lord Freiyz was opposite her, standing on the tip of what must have been some kind of radio tower.

"You're… not gonna get away with this," Blossom huffed.

"Get away with what?" he replied. "Destroying my own town? Or destroying yours?"

"I'll never forgive you if you so much as touch a _rock_ in Townsville!"

"Yes, yes, I've heard all the lines before. Although, I don't understand why you heroes are so fond of this particular one. Since when have I ever claimed to have an interest in your forgiveness? Right now, all I care about is this battle."

"Is that all you ever think about? Destroying things and hurting innocent people?" Freiyz chuckled to himself, even as Blossom stared at him in confusion.

"Don't act as if that's not all you think about too. The only difference between the two of us is that you hide it. You dress it up as justice and make up excuses to lash out against those that you dislike, while I'm _very_ open about my ambitions."

"Yeah right, there's _nothing_ about us that's the same."

"Oh really? Then what do _you_ think the difference is?"

"I fight for the people who can't protect themselves. I fight against monsters like you who want to hurt my friends, my family, and everyone I care about! You just fight for the kicks!"

Freiyz paused for a moment, frowning as he thought about it.

"Well, I suppose I don't bother to protect the weak. I have no interest in them really. I don't believe in that 'survival of the fittest' spiel, or at least not the way it's been warped now. That's a sorely outdated concept. But I _do_ believe that people who are unproductive are better off dead. But look, by fighting me, you've destroyed my precious town. You've harmed the innocent people who I'm sworn to protect."

"The same monsters that were going to destroy Townsville?"

"Maybe. But not likely. I was going to do that myself."

"You-"

"Hear me out, Blossom. These monsters, when they attack your town, they're seen as evil, correct? But when you attack _their_ town… aren't _you_ the monster?"

"Of course not! I'm doing this to stop you!"

Freiyz shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine then. I guess any evil is allowed if it helps you achieve your goal. I just have one question for you though. Did you actually think you could stall me?"

"Wha-"

Freiyz didn't let her finish speaking. He turned around and kicked at the air. Where there was nobody just a second ago, Bubbles was instead, Freiyz's leg in her face as he sent her flying across the town, slamming into what looked like some kind of football stadium.

"Impressive," he said. "Completely masking your presence while moving faster than I can see. If I only relied on my eyes, she would have got me for sure. Now then, shall we continue?"

Blossom clenched her fists, pure fury filling her body. She began to glow in a glorious red blaze, fire and lightning flying off of her body. She dashed towards Freiyz.

The two clashed, flattening the top of the radio tower from the impact. The two separated before charging for each other again, exchanging a flurry of blows too quick to see.

Blossom tried swinging a kick at him, but he caught it with ease, throwing her towards the ground.

She slammed into it like a meteor, demolishing an area the size of a football pitch. Freiyz didn't waste any time in charging after her. She rolled out of the way at the last second before he could stomp her into dust. He turned swiftly on his heel just for Blossom to charge back at him, punching so quickly that it looked like her arms had multiplied. He blocked them all with ease, slapping them away before they could even get close to him before punching her in the face, sending her hurtling through three buildings and a hot dog stand.

She charged straight back at him, even more furious than before. He put his arms up to block again, but found she punched the ground instead. Dust filled the area, obscuring the battlefield.

For a moment, Gina couldn't see anything as the dust just kept on spreading. We could still hear the sounds of combat, but not what was actually happening. Then, Blossom emerged, her eyes screwed shut in pain as she was launched clear out of the city and into the side of the valley, finally coming out at the top of it by a small plateau. The same plateau that I had just finished climbing up to get a clear view of the battle.

I stared in horror as I saw Blossom's form in the ground, not moving an inch as Freiyz leaped up to our level, landing gracefully compared to Blossom's dynamic entry.

The good news? They weren't fighting in the city anymore. The bad news? They were fighting next to _me_.

As dead set as I had been about finding a way to finish this fight _my_ way, or at least somehow helping Blossom, I didn't see how that was going to happen. What was I going to do, throw rocks?

"G-G-Gina!" I squeaked. "The Queen of Hearts!"

" _Two minutes until arrival. Hang on 'til then, and whatever you do,_ don't fight _!_ "

I didn't need her to tell me that, but obviously, luck wasn't on my side. Instead of looking at his opponent, Freiyz turned his head to look at me. My racing heart leaped up to my throat while my blood ran down to my toes. I couldn't do it. There was no _way_ I could match up to somebody like that. He wasn't just a monster, he was a demon! We just barely managed to beat Bushido because we caught him by surprise with all of my gadgets and all three of us, together. But on my own, with no plan, and no gadgets? What could I even _hope_ to do?

"Girl. You're a hero, aren't you?"

"Uh… well, I, you see…."

"I have no reason to duel with worms. Stay out of the way if you want to live. I must execute this one personally."

I looked at Blossom. Her eyes looked completely blank and it looked like she was drooling (eww, that's a terrible way to go). All Freiyz would have to do is tap her and she would die.

Blossom was going to die.

That would be it. Without their leader, the other two would be next. I'd never have to deal with the Powerpuff Girls again. They would be destroyed. The whole world would see them on TV fail at being superheroes, just like I wanted. It would be the end of all of my problems.

It honestly sounded pretty tempting. I didn't even have to do anything. I just had to watch as Freiyz went and stepped on her head until it popped. Sure, _I_ couldn't beat him, but he would get worn out until somebody strong enough could. It was perfect!

And yet, something inside of me stirred. Something clicked as I slowly walked between the two of them and spread my arms wide. Something inside of me spoke, even as I lost all control of my body.

"Just try it, you peasant," I said. "You'll have to deal with _me_ before you can touch her!" He looked at me with a mix between annoyance and amusement, confused as to why this mere human would interrupt a battle between gods.

"Why would you forfeit your life like this?" he asked.

"Because, I'm a hero!"

"Heh. Well then, stop me." He started walking towards Blossom, barely even noticing that I was there.

"Gina," I whispered. "Charge everything I've got into my fist. We're gonna make this one count."

" _Are you stupid?!_ " she shrieked. " _I_ just said _do_ not _attack him! Princess, you're gonna die!_ "

"I'll die if you don't listen!"

" _Even if I do, the suit is too weak! You won't be able to absorb the recoil!_ "

"I'm going in."

" _Princess!_ "

I charged, roaring like a moron as I held my fist, already bracing for impact. I swung it as hard as I could. My fist slammed into his chest… and exploded.

Okay, not my fistitself, but something definitely blew up. My whole body was engulfed in flames as I was sent hurtling backwards, leaving a decent sized crater in the dirt as I ground to a halt next to Blossom.

Pain. Excruciating, agonising, unbearable searing white hot pain.

That was all I felt dancing up and down my arm like sparks of lightning. I looked at my arm and grimaced. The whole sleeve was torn off, and the glove was missing. My hand was charred completely black and my whole arm was bleeding. I felt dizzy just looking at it, and I was sure I was going to throw up at any moment.

The recoil. That's what Gina meant. I didn't have any shields to protect me from my own strength anymore, and judging from the way my back and neck felt too, I had no shields to save me from that crash either. But with a punch like that, I _had_ to have done something.

I looked at Freiyz, a smug smile on my face, before it evaporated completely. He looked like he hadn't even been scratched. He was looking down at me with pity and disappointed eyes, like I was a wounded animal that couldn't be saved. I could feel tears running down my face as he approached me. Now _I_ was going to die! All because of some _feeling_ that I didn't understand and couldn't describe. I would _never_ have done this back when I was still a villain. When did I even _stop_ being a villain? Why did it even matter?! I was going to _die_! And this time, I couldn't even blame anyone but myself.

No, I _hadn't_ accepted my fate. I hadn't reached some state of inner peace. I didn't want to die! But death was staring me right in the face, ready to hand me a one way ticket to the other side….

"Don't give up!" someone called. Freiyz stopped, and both of us turned our heads to the source of the voice. A hero in a green jumpsuit was standing by the edge of the valley, his fists clenched tight.

"Yeah, you can do it, Princess!" another hero called as she flew up as well. Heroes started crawling, climbing, flying and teleporting to the area, all surrounding us and calling out encouragement.

"We believe in you!"

"Give him hell!"

"Show him what Townsville is _really_ all about!"

"For all of our sakes!"

"Believe in yourself!"

I didn't realise it at the time, but defeating Bushido didn't just let us escape, it let the others get out too. And sure, none of them had the courage to face him themselves, but all of them had charged through a city of monsters and followed the chaos to support us. To support _me_ now that Blossom was down.

The chants and cheers built up to a raucous roar, a wave of sound echoing and multiplying across the valley, getting louder and louder with each passing moment. And all of them were cheering for _me_.

I love attention. I can't get enough of it. But right then and there, I didn't even know _how_ I felt about it. All I knew was that I _had_ to do something. Even though I knew there was nothing I _could_ do anymore. Even though nobody understood that I was going to die but me, I had to try! For all of them, the other heroes who couldn't do anything.

I stood up again on shaky feet, all of the nerves in my body screaming at me to stop, to back down, but I had to do it. I _had_ to win! I….

"I'll take it from here, Princess," Blossom croaked, her hand gripping my own.

I looked down in shock as she pulled herself up. It barely looked like she was conscious as she tottered to her feet, leaning on me for support. I couldn't even form any words as she stepped forward. The other heroes went silent as well, and Freiyz simply stared at her looking mildly surprised.

"Looks like I put up a lousy fight, huh?" she said. "Princess… thanks. Thanks for reminding me… what being a hero is all about."

"I've seen what you can do. You can't beat me," Freiyz stated.

"Can't? No… I _will!_ " The two charged for each other yet again, but this time was different. Their impact alone blew us all ten feet in the air just from the wind. It was like there was suddenly a hurricane and we were caught in the middle of it, floating away from the force of their battle.

They rammed themselves against each other, their fists clashing with every move before suddenly, both of their arms were simply whirlwinds, the world obscured within them.

I had to cling to a rock to make sure I didn't get blown away. Some of the heroes did the same thing, whilst others held onto each other for support in long human chains, resembling bright kites more than people.

Blossom got launched through the air, but somersaulted and hovered to a stop. Her fists were glowing bright red as she flew back down, punching Freiyz in the face. The blow sent them both flying through the mountain and out the other side again.

The two rose into the air, clashing against each other brutally in a giant red and gold whirlwind. They separated only for Blossom to fire laser beams at him. Freiyz dodged around them expertly, not even getting scratched before he charged at Blossom, but this time she wouldn't fall for it. She dived out of the way, grabbing his arm and catapulting him towards the city streets again.

He slammed into the ground like a meteor, levelling everything around him.

"Now, Buttercup!" Blossom yelled. The ground began to glow red, and rocks rose into the air before everything exploded in a massive torrent of magma from below. Freiyz was launched into the air with Buttercup close behind her. Of course! Bubbles had been fighting just earlier. She must have found her and told her to hide in the ground!

Freiyz looked pretty impressed, even as she was punching his face in.

"Bubbles!" Buttercup roared as she launched him into the air. Bubbles flew back into the sight, now holding a giant scoreboard. Using it like an oversized tennis racket, she slapped him even higher into the sky just as Blossom flew in front of him. Her fist was vibrating, practically singing with power. With a roar, she punched him in the gut as hard as she could. I heard the boom of the sound barrier shattering as he was sent flying through the air, disappearing as a speck of light in the distance, the only trace of him being the shattered bits of his golden armour falling to the ground around her.

We all stared, slack jawed as what had just been a hopeless situation moments ago was transformed into a victory.

A victory…. We won. We survived! Cheers broke out all around as Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup looked down at us from above, waving with massive smiles on their faces. Blossom looked like she was about to pass out, and her sisters flew over to her side before she could plummet to the ground, carrying her down to the waiting crowd of heroes as they all cheered them on. Once again the day was saved, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls. But as I looked down at the smouldering city below, I started to wonder whether the day was actually saved for _everybody_ ….

* * *

 **At an unknown location in the Pacific Ocean**

Lord Freiyz drifted across the ocean on his back, his body spread out like a starfish as he looked up at the blue sky. How many miles had he been launched? How far away from Districtville had he flown? That blow definitely caught him off guard. He hadn't expected the girl to still have so much strength left. But he was still alive, and very conscious. Did that still count as his loss?

As he lay there pondering it and deciding on whether or not he should go and finish the fight, the sky was suddenly blotted out by thick, deep red clouds that choked the life out of the sun. The clouds swirled and swirled until standing before him was a devilish creature, a fiend with blood red skin and a hideous green eyes. It clicked its lobster-like claws together as it hovered over him, peering down at him curiously. If the abomination had a name, it was too vile to be spoken aloud, so he called it the only thing that anyone referred to it by:

"Him."

"Well, if it isn't my old friend," Him said, his voice echoing in multiple octaves. "Whatever happened to you? You look like a mess!"

"I was pleasantly surprised," he replied. "They proved to be rather formidable."

"But of course! These are the Powerpuff Girls we're talking about. So much potential for chaos, trapped in the pathetic bodies of such beloved brats!" He hissed as he finished the sentence, almost sounding like a rattlesnake.

"Still, they weren't anything like you said. They were stronger than I thought, but much weaker than I hoped."

"But of _course_! You're none other than the all-powerful Lord Freiyz. The Powerpuff Girls are no match for _you_! In fact… didn't one of them break your armour?"

Lord Freiyz looked down at his chest. Sure enough, where his once gleaming armour had been, there was a gaping hole in the middle, exposing his abdomen. He hadn't even noticed it until now.

"Huh… my armour is shattered…. I was using that to seal my power."

"You were holding back?!"

"It was the only way to make that match enjoyably. This is the first time anybody has so much as cracked it, let alone destroyed it."

"So if you're strong enough to destroy the Powerpuffs, then why aren't you doing it right now?!"

Thunder was crackling in the distance, and Lord Freiyz could tell that he was incurring the wrath of Him. Not that he was worried, but it was definitely unwise.

"Destroying them here would be a waste," he said. "If I destroyed them now, I would never meet another being with the potential to match me for seven centuries. They have to grow and ripen, age like fine wine. They must become strong enough to make me feel the thrill of battle again. Then, and only then, shall they be worthy of being destroyed…."

* * *

 **AN:** **So, that concludes this arc! All that's left is the wrap-up here and then it's back to Townsville and fighting the forces of evil for our heroines! _But_ , not for a while. Right now, I'm _incredibly_ tired, and can't write my fanfic extensively. Not to mention that for the rest of the month, I'm trying out another writing project, non fanfic stuff as part of Camp NaNoWriMo, so I can't really write this anyway. So I'm going on a bit of a production break until the month is over, and probably for a little bit longer too. Don't worry, I'll be back, but at my own time, so don't rush me. I like my stuff to at least be decent, and I'm not going to sacrifice quality for a rush-job.**

 **In the meantime, if you did like what you've read so far, you can try your hand at my Percy Jackson fic, _The Guns of Solomon_ which I think is pretty good as well. There's something like twenty chapters of that too so hopefully by the time you're done there, this will be ready to carry on again. So until we meet again, peace out!**


	12. APPARENTLY, STORMS WEAR TIGHTS

**I live! I die! I live again!**

 **So hey everybody, I'm here once again! Well, that absence lasted a lifetime, huh? I'm sorry about that, really am. I just _really_ wasn't feeling writing or life in general. I'm still not (for both of those things) and it doesn't really feel that fun to write anymore. I'm slowly inching my way back into it though, and what better way than NaNoWriMo?**

 **For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is an annual event where writers all around the world try to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. This probably sounds like a nigh on impossible task to most of you, but it's very possible and I do it every year (and there's also some weird overachievers who basically do this in a week and go on to write 300,000 words or more but we don't talk about them). I even succeeded once! I normally use the whole month to work on original stories or content, but due to my _soul crushing despair_ , I was unable to do that this time. I couldn't plan it, I didn't feel it, it just wasn't working for me. So I'm using this time to work on this story! Yeah, I've got another story that needs far more attention than this one but I don't care! This one's more fun to write and right now I NEED writing to be fun again! So I'm not gonna complicate matters, I'm doing this!**

 **CHAPTER 12: APPARENTLY, STORMS WEAR TIGHTS**

It all felt like a dream.

Monster Island was receding behind us as we sailed back to the wonders of human civilisation. I was leaning on the guardrails and staring back at the island before glancing at my arm. It hung in a sling, wrapped up in a white cast with a few inconsequential signatures from the others and one rather meek looking hero. It was solid proof of the events that occurred, but everything afterwards was a murky puddle of mismatched memories.

There was clean-up of course. Fixing what could be fixed, righting wrongs where we could. I remember trying to put the town together and find survivors while the Powerpuffs were swamped with adoring fans. Wannabe heroes and nosy reporters all practically worshipping them and asking how they did it while I was doing all the hard work. It wasn't until Nim and Saffron caught up to me and ordered me to rest that I finally stopped.

Why did I even keep working anyway? Normally it was just to prove that I was a better hero than them, and I always got a kick out of it when someone thanked me for it, like I'd stolen that thanks from the Powerpuffs. But I was too exhausted to even feel that.

Now with a four hour journey ahead of me, I had all the time I needed to think it through, and I think I was making some headway. At least I _was_ until I heard the sound of Powerpuffs approaching as they recounted their 'heroics' on Monster Island.

"Oh man, that guy was insane!" Buttercup yelled. "He was super strong! Of course, _I_ wasn't scared of him for a second!"

"That's because you spent half the fight floating through space," Bubbles giggled.

"He got a lucky shot! He's lucky I wasn't at my best, or else I would have made fish food out of him!"

"Sure Buttercup," Blossom said, "but we all know that we only got through it thanks to my plan. Blindsiding him was the only way to take him down, and that wouldn't have happened without making him think he had the upper hand."

"Oh, so you're telling me you were losing on purpose?" Buttercup snorted. "We were there, Blossom. You were getting your butt kicked. _Hard_." Blossom's face turned red as she clenched her fists in embarrassed fury.

"Well _you_ try fight that guy on your own! I'm lucky I even made it out of there in one piece!"

"Too bad the city didn't do so good," I grumbled. It looked like the girls had just realised that I was still there. Amazingly, Buttercup didn't just scowl at me. She actually looked a little embarrassed, which made sense since she was supposed to, I dunno, _protect_ the city. Blossom didn't feel like having our usual glaring contest which was just fine by me, although she did acknowledge me.

"Princess, you're okay?" she asked, although I didn't believe her sympathy for one second.

"I've dealt with worse," I replied, not willing to discuss anything with _her_.

"You don't really look okay," Bubbles said. "I know you really wanted to beat that guy too, but we couldn't do anything. Besides, we didn't want to get you involved in that fight."

"Oh yeah, sure, I understand completely. You just got all of greater Districtville involved instead. That's _way_ better."

"I know, and it sucks, but there wasn't anything we could do. Freiyz was…. He was too strong." I rolled my eyes at her excuse.

"Please. You're the _Powerpuff Girls_. All-mighty and heroic apparently. Why'd you let the fighting get to the city in the first place? Did you even _notice_ the damage you dealt?" Blossom frowned, as if she was trying to figure out what she did that made me so mad.

"Princess, I tried. We _all_ tried. If there was a way to do things better, we would have done it."

"I don't believe you. After all, why would _you_ care about destroying Districtville? It's full of all those monsters you loathe so much." Buttercup tilted her head as if she was seriously considering my point.

"Yeah sure," she said, "but why do _you_ care? You probably hate monsters as much as you hate puppies and kittens." I was offended that she would suggest I dislike kittens, but I let it slide.

"That's not the point! Heroes are meant to be good at what they do, and that's protecting people! You had one job, and _you_ failed at it!"

"Okay then, Princess," Blossom said, her voice brimming with barely concealed frustration. "Why don't you prove that _you're_ such a good hero then? What makes you think that you're so much better than us? Could _you_ stop Freiyz? Could you save Townsville _and_ Districtville with all your fancy gadgets and your billions of dollars?"

"I might not have your freakish strength and superpowers, but while you were signing autographs and getting your pictures taken, _I_ was actually putting the city back together! _I_ was in charge of cleanup while you just smiled and looked pretty!"

"But without us, there wouldn't even _be_ a city to cleanup! You think _you_ could have fought Freiyz?"

"I would have done a better job than you, that's for sure!"

"Yeah, you _totally_ had him on the ropes when I came around."

"I was only in that state because I was taking care of all the problems you left behind! Like the giant that locked up all the other heroes, or making sure that nobody died from the carnage that you two wreaked! Did you even _care_? Probably not since at the end of the day, _you'd_ still be the heroes, no matter how much damage you caused, especially since it wasn't your precious Townsville either!"

"What are you even trying to say?! We did our best, and thanks to us, Townsville is safe! If we didn't fight the way we did, then Freiyz would have won, and then we _all_ would have died! You wanna trade away everything we're trying to protect just to save a few buildings? Actually, even that's a little shocking. When was the last time you protected anything but yourself?"

"It doesn't matter! I at least know I'm not going to get carried away and put millions of lives in danger!"

"Well then, you do it then! Protect your money and your cars and your buildings _and_ all of those lives _and_ yourself without letting even a single person get hurt, since you talk like it's so easy."

"You _know_ I can't do that! You _know_ that I'm not strong enough to protect _anything_! I tried _so hard_ to become a Powerpuff Girl like you for years! I tossed all the money I had, and I could never even come close to you guys! I'm always trailing at the back, or at the other end of your 'justice', so how do you think I feel seeing all of your power and seeing it get absolutely wasted?! How do you think I feel knowing how much _more_ you could be, how much better _I_ could be, but having to suck it up and be second place to these… these fakes?!"

I might have struck a nerve there, because Blossom recoiled at my last words.

"Okay, that's it!" Buttercup roared, winding up her arm, probably preparing to send me to the moon while Bubbles stepped between us, trying desperately to calm her sister down. And that's when the door opened up, Gina and Saffron appearing through it carrying trays of cookies and fruit juice.

They slowly peered around the door, probably sensing the tension in the air. How much of our argument had they heard?

"Uhh…. Is everyone alright?" Saffron asked. Blossom sighed.

"Fine, just fine," she said. "Thanks for the ride, Princess. But if you think you're a better hero, then these 'fakes' we'll leave you alone. C'mon girls, we're leaving."

She blasted off into the sky, her pink afterimage hanging in the air for a few seconds before following after her. Buttercup looked up at her sibling with concern before flying after her. Bubbles glanced both at me and her siblings as if she wasn't sure whose side she was meant to take before going after them too.

"Princess?" Gina asked. "What happened?"

I glared at her, my heart still racing from our argument.

"Nothing," I said. "I was just taking out the trash."

* * *

The rest of the journey sucked. Gina and Saffron kept trying to talk to me, but I could barely register what they were saying, so I spent most of the time just staring blankly at the sea. When I made it back to Townsville, there was no parade waiting to hail me as a brave hero of Townsville. I arrived at a lonely dock filled with massive rusting ships that smelled like fish. But hey, it wasn't so bad. There were a few balloons and confetti from the celebration the town obviously had for the Powerpuffs. Heck, there was even a half-finished slice of cake left on the floor!

I kicked it into the ocean. It got all over my boots.

Saffron stood by my side as I stared at the water and gave me a hug that I didn't feel like returning. I know she said something about me being her hero or something, but I wasn't really paying attention. I certainly didn't feel like one after the way I blew up at the Powerpuffs, and the lack of my own welcome home party didn't help. Gina awkwardly rubbed my shoulder like that would somehow make me feel better.

It was better than nothing.

After I was done sulking, we headed out. There should have been a limo waiting to pick us up, and sure enough, a large stretch limo with a ridiculously white sheen was waiting for us, with Alfred, one of many drivers, standing by the door. Saffron and Gina let themselves in and I was about to enter and disappear from the world of the commoners when I heard a voice shouting my name.

I turned to it and saw Professor Utonium running after me, his white van behind him. He was holding a disgustingly pink box wrapped up with a nice red bow.

"Princess! Wow, I actually made it! I thought I'd arrived too late!" he said.

"Professor Utonium?" I asked before I remembered that he was the father of those three brats. "Oh, are you here to rub it in my face that your three girls are so much better than me? Maybe you're here to tell me about the after party and how you'd be honoured to _not invite me_!"

"I… what? No, nothing of the sort! I saw what happened on Monster Island!"

"Oh, so you saw my embarrassing performance against Freiyz then."

"Well, _I_ don't think it was embarrassing. Sure, those Hero TV presenters didn't make it seem like anything much, but I saw what you did. You tried to save Blossom."

"What? Please. I would _never_ do something like that." Professor Utonium shook his head.

"No, I saw it all. You tried to protect her, even knowing how dangerous it was! All of those heroes who showed up to cheer you on, _none_ of them had more courage than you. And to do something like that for Blossom…. If you weren't there, I don't even want to think about what might have happened!"

"Yeah well just tell her to be more careful next time. It's not like I could have done anything on my own…."

"Still, I wanted to thank you for looking out for them. I know the girls are a handful, and even though they won't admit it, they're not as sharp as they used to be when it comes to fighting monsters like that. So knowing you were there for them… well, it makes it a little easier to sleep at night…. Oh, and I got you something for your troubles too!"

He opened the box up (apparently, it was one of those cheap ones made to _look_ like it was wrapped carefully) and revealed an oversized chocolate cake with loads of yellow frosting everywhere and the words 'Congratulations Princess' and a yellow crown design painted on with icing.

"I'm not exactly the greatest baker, but I think this one turned out alright. It's the least I can offer."

I looked at the cake and just _knew_ that all the icing would probably be terrible for my teeth, and I didn't feel too good about taking _anything_ from a Utonium. But after the last few days, I think I deserved it.

I grudgingly took the box and hastily muttered some kind of thanks before I could gag on my own words.

"Don't mention it," he said with a cheesy grin, and I kind of wish that I hadn't either. "Please take care of yourself, Princess. The girls don't like to worry me but I know that this hero stuff is tough on them, and they're literally bulletproof! You… well, I don't want you to hurt yourself now that you've finally stopped robbing banks."

"Yeah, I get it already. I don't need you to lecture me…." I turned away and got into the limo, the car driving away and leaving the professor behind in the poorly maintained car park.

"Looks like you got something special," Gina said. "You gonna share?"

"Get your own cake."

"You can't eat it all by yourself!"

"Oh yeah? Try me."

"No! The cake is meant to be shared! It's _cake_!"

"Does it have _your_ name on it? I don't think so!"

"True, but we _did_ all earn it," Saffron added. "Think about it. It took all three of us to take down Bushido and navigate our way through Districtville. We should celebrate!"

I really didn't feel much like hanging out with anyone, but I also didn't think I had the energy to argue. I just shrugged my shoulders and proceeded to stare out the window.

As the limo pulled up in my enormous driveway, I started to think of what awaited me. A nice, warm bath, food that wasn't prepared for and by monsters, a visit from my personal hairstylist, a manicure, a pedicure…. After that little misadventure, it would be heavenly!

So just try to imagine the look on my face when I stepped inside and found Grin Hardly sitting on Daddy's sofa and drinking a cup of coffee.

"Ah, Princess, so good of you to join me!" he said. "I believe that you and I need to talk…."

* * *

I didn't want to have that conversation.

It didn't help that Gina and Saffron were just kind of shuffled out awkwardly somewhere else while I was left alone with the creep and his weird coffee.

"So, how was Monster Island?" he asked.

"I nearly died. Multiple times. My arm is in a cast. And it itches."

"Ah, I see…. Well, let's cut to the chase then! I'm here to review your performance during the whole Lord Freiyz saga."

"What, are you going to give me a grade? How about you give me an A plus and get it over with?"

"Oh, it's nothing quite so simple unfortunately. Since I have no other way of saying this, I'll be blunt. Your performance during the event was rather poor. You never officially managed to challenge that monster, and when you finally did, it was incredibly disappointing. You only got one hit in, and it didn't do anything. You weren't even wearing your new suit so the sponsors weren't very pleased either."

"Wait a second, I took down that giant that beat up the Powerpuff Girls! I freed all the heroes too, and restored the city!"

"It's great that you're playing hero, but unfortunately, that's not good enough. None of those events were filmed by our camera crew, and even what little popularity you gained from amateur footage taken by other heroes means nothing compared to the massive applause the Powerpuff Girls are receiving. Do you know _why_ I chose you, Princess?"

"Because of my magnetic personality and charming good looks?" Mr. Hardly narrowed his eyes as he took another sip of his coffee.

"This isn't the appropriate time for comedy, Miss Morbucks."

"I'm not making any jokes!"

"Well, no matter. I chose you because you're _not_ the Powerpuff Girls. The Powerpuffs may have agreed to become registered heroes with the Mayor, but they would never accept a contract with us to become our idols. All of that adoration from the public, and we can profit off of none of it. You, on the other hand, are different. You agreed to our terms, and you have the makings of a real hero, but if you cannot prove it, then we shall have to pull back our support and place our faith in separate sources."

"… Are you serious?"

He lowered his cup of coffee and glared at me.

"Do I _look_ serious?" he said, even with his foam moustache. I tried not to giggle as he took another sip. "Here's the deal. According to our statistics, all three Powerpuff Girls are in the top three spots for hero points, with you just below. In popularity, you've dropped a considerable number of places. You must move both of your positions to second place or higher by the next review in two months, or your contract with us shall be terminated, revoking all of your privileges as the DAMG's mascot."

"How am I meant to do that when my _arm is broken_?!"

"That's on you I'm afraid."

"This isn't fair! You can't do this to me!"

"Of course we can. This is business. You offered a service and I paid for it. If you can no longer offer that service than what right do you even have to my time? I believe that you have what it takes to be a hero, so don't let us down."

He got up, leaving his cup on the stool next to his chair. "Well then, I must be off. It was a pleasure talking to you." With that, he walked out the room and was escorted kindly out of the house. I tried rubbing the exhaustion out of my eyes while trying to ignore the dull aching in my other arm. I had two months to try and 'redeem' myself as thanks for actually being a hero.

"Great, just great," I muttered as I got up and staggered out of the lounge. I was _so done_. I was calling it quits and going to sleep the rest of the day off. I could find Gina and Saffron any day, but for now, they had to leave and just leave me to myself. Leave me to think.

* * *

So that was my day in a nutshell. After that, it was just a blur as I waited to recover. It's not like broken bones were anything new for me. I mean, I fought the _Powerpuff Girls_. But still, having to sit on the side lines while the Powerpuffs got all the good gigs sucked. Saffron would still check on me after school if she felt like it, and Gina was tinkering away on my suits as usual, but there wasn't much 'hero' business going on. So it was on a pretty ordinary day of school when pretty ordinary things were happening that things took an extraordinary turn.

It was lunchtime and I was sitting at the coolest spot in school. Like, literally. It was under this really shady tree where you needed to at least be _half_ as cool as me before you were allowed to get anywhere close to it. I was there surrounded by Lola and Lilac (seriously, I _had_ to remember their names) as they talked about something woefully unimportant when I spotted an unfamiliar face eating lunch and sitting on a bench that was normally reserved for the cheerleaders and whichever boy was deluded into thinking they were the hottest new thing in school. Whoever the girl was, I'd never seen her face, which could only mean one thing: new kid.

She looked like a curious purple flower. Like, a flower that was actually curious somehow. Violet blouse, deep purple skirt, one of those weird puffy waistcoat jacket things (amazingly, it was white instead of purple) and an absurd pair of white headphones around her neck. Her big purple eyes looked like they were trying to swallow their surroundings as she looked around in fascination. I don't know what it was about her, but she annoyed me on sight.

Lala and Lulu both stopped their conversation and stared at her with me. We all scanned our surroundings. There was nobody around, and none of the other popular kids had noticed her yet. She was completely alone. It was just too perfect. Fresh meat!

The two satellites looked at me for confirmation. I nodded in approval. I was in a pretty foul mood, I could work out the stress.

We got up and carried out our usual shtick. The other two stood around her sides while I stood right in the middle, staring down at her with my arms folded.

"Hi there!" Satellite Number One said. "You look a little lost, aren't ya?" The girl stared up with her big unblinking eyes like she wasn't entirely sure what she was meant to do.

"Uh, not really…. I guess? I'm not lost, but I don't know where anything is… does that count?" Satellite One looked at me with uncertainty. We'd struck an oddball alright, but Satellite Two wasn't discouraged.

"What are you _wearing_? _Violet_? I can't _believe_ that you'd start your first day looking like _that_!"

"Yeah!" Satellite One picked up. "And it's not slimming either."

"You look like a bruise. I weird, walking bruise."

I rolled my eyes. It was a little thick for a start, but I could work with it.

"Oh don't worry about what they say, even if it _is_ all true," I said. She still looked perplexed as she turned her attention to me. "You must be new here, right?" She slowly nodded her head as she took a bite from a carrot. _A carrot_! What was she, a vegan? "Well, welcome to Midway Middle School! My name is Princess Morbucks, and unlike the rest of the unwashed masses here, _I_ am someone whose name you should remember." I extended a hand for a handshake.

"Um… hi! My name's Brass!" She was about to grab mine when I slapped her lunchbox out of her hand, its far-too-healthy contents scattering all over the ground. My two satellites laughed as Brass looked at it in confusion.

"As if I'm touching _your_ icky hands. Who knows _where_ people like you put your fingers?"

"Yeah, keep them to yourself!" said Satellite Two.

"I don't think you got the memo, but this is _our_ turf and we're _very_ exclusive. Invites only. And if you don't know us, and we don't know you, then you're definitely _not_ on that invites list."

"Umm… okay?" Brass said. "But my sandwhich, it's kind of…."

"Oh, you mean _this_ sandwich?" I stepped on its remnants as a few cucumbers escaped from between the ruined slices of bread. "You don't need it. It's not like a diet's gonna do you any good." The two girls laughed, and even _I_ found it annoying. Sure, this Brass girl might have _looked_ apathetic, but I bet if I'd kept it up, she was going to break into tears.

The game had only just begun when I heard an annoying voice call out. Of course, I couldn't have gone even a single day without the Powerpuff Girls spoiling my fun. The trio were standing together and glaring at us like we'd just kicked a puppy, and I should know: Bubbles nearly killed me the last time I did that.

"Princess, what're you doing to that girl?" Blossom asked.

"Well, if it isn't the schools most colourful hall monitors," I said, trying not to let them see my frustration. "I don't know why you look so angry. I was just saying hi to the new kid! You know, giving her a warm welcome!"

Blossom eyed the food on the ground, then me.

"Well, it isn't very warm and it certainly isn't welcome."

"Come _on_ , we were just having some fun!" Satellite Two said, rolling her eyes.

"Well if you don't get lost, then _we'll_ have fun beating _you_ guys black and blue!" Buttercup growled. My two subordinates stepped away, already sweating a little, but I wasn't fazed (much).

"Please, aren't you the _Powerpuff Girls_?" I asked. "You're not gonna beat up a bunch of ordinary people. You can't touch us, unless you feel like explaining why you beat up three innocent, defenceless schoolgirls." Buttercup frowned as she stared at us in deep thought before shrugging her shoulders.

"Eh, we've gotten away with worse."

 _Oh. Oh yeah. I didn't think about that…._

"Buttercup!" Bubbles yelled in shock.

"What? I promise I'll leave all of Princess's teeth intact this time!"

"We're not going to beat them up! But I'm not sure whether Lisa and Lindsey _really_ want to annoy us when we've got connections with the school newspaper, and _I_ know all about that little 'incident' that happened to them last term…. Right?"

The two satellites turned multiple shades of red as they babbled denials and garbled retorts. I guess I understood them, but I was pretty sure that _my_ influence was much greater than anything air-headed Bubbles could muster. Regardless, that was _way_ too much effort just for one brat. Plus, bullying the new kid wasn't as fun as it used to be. Huh. Weird.

I shrugged my shoulders and let it go as I turned to leave.

"Ugh, this is boring," I complained. "I was just leaving anyway. I can't stand to breathe the same air as people like you." I started walking away, and my two stooges followed shortly afterwards. I didn't want to see that new kid's stupid face anymore. She just looked _confused_! She should have been scared, or at least angry!

I could hear the girls doing the usual routine: asking if she was okay, gossipping about me, introducing themselves, that kind of stuff. Then, they stopped abruptly. The Powerpuffs weren't exactly known for being discreet. I turned around to check what was happening and found them all staring up at the sky. Now _I_ was the confused one, and I _hated_ being confused so I looked for what they were staring at. I found it in the form of a bright pink and red heart in the sky.

I hadn't seen that symbol in a while actually, but there was nobody in Townsville who didn't recognise it. It was the Powerpuff Girls' weird calling signal getting beamed into the sky for the whole town to look at. And that could only mean one thing: Townsville was under attack, and it needed the Powerpuffs.

The Powerpuffs all looked at each other, nodded their heads, and blasted off into the sky, leaving the new kid behind to stare up at them in wonder. After the way they showed me up just now, there was no way I was going to let them get all the glory too!

"Girls, I'll be right back," I said as I tinkered with my watch. Nanobots swarmed from around every corner of the school, wrapping me up in my armour. My arm was no longer in a sling, but with it still in a big cast, there was no way it was safe to fight using any of my other suits. Even with the Queen of Hearts, I had to stay as far from danger as I could. That didn't stop me from boosting away after the Powerpuffs at top speed though. "Gina, you there?"

" _I got the memo. Crime?_ "

"I dunno. Search for any disasters in Townsville in the last hour."

" _No problem. Umm…. There was a huge explosion at this weird chemical factory, and it sparked an inferno. There's cops and firefighters there but they're kinda useless. There's a lot of people still trapped inside, and it's looking pretty grim._ "

"Just great…."

I rounded a corner that led to the city limits and saw the building practically roasting itself in the distance. The whole facility was engulfed in flames, and sometimes there would be random explosions in bright, toxic looking colours. There were firetrucks and firefighters outside the building, but they were hopeless. It looked like the whole place would fall apart if I so much as touched it wrong. The Powerpuffs were stood just in front of it, and they were probably just as perplexed as I was about getting in and out safely.

I ground to a halt next to Blossom. We glared at eachother for a moment before looking away with our noses raised to the air.

"Princess."

"Blossom."

"So, we took a look at the place with our X-ray vision. There's at least a dozen people inside, but we can't get in."

"Why? Aren't you all fireproof or something?"

"We might be, but the building isn't. If we charge in, we might make things worse. Even _if_ we could get inside, there are loads of chemicals burning and floating around inside. There might even be stuff in there that _we_ aren't immune to!"

"Wow. So Townsville's greatest heroes are _completely_ useless. Why am I not surprised?"

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas!"

Too bad Blossom was wrong. Gina was already scanning the building for entry points that wouldn't be fatal to all of us. I was going to zoom in, sweep up all the factory workers and plant them outside. _I_ was going to save the day, not the Powerpuffs! And that's when I heard it.

I thought I was hearing things at first, but I was sure it was coming from the building and not my own head. It was laughter. Not real laughter, but slow, purposeful mock laughter, like somebody trying to laugh away a threat. Then, a screech like metal tearing through solid rock. I heard it a few more times before part of the building's lower wall broke down. There was a blur of activity before a factory worker somehow appeared on the ground in front of a big firetruck.

The blur went back inside the building before I could make it out. All of us looked pretty confused as we stared at this weird blue blur popping in and out, always bringing with it another person, and each time letting the building burn and explode more and more.

"Who or what is _that_?" Buttercup asked, looking a little bit impressed. Bubbles's eyes were wide in horror though.

"It's going to destroy the building!" she cried, shooting down after the blur.

"Wait, Bubbles!" Blossom cried. Before I knew it, we were all flying after her.

Bubbles flew in through a broken window, and we were about to follow when an explosion blasted us all backwards and into the gravel.

I tried so very hard not to scream as I landed on my arm. Obviously, I failed.

Blossom screamed for her sister as we propped ourselves up to look at the damage. Buttercup got up and looked like she was going to charge in when another blast knocked us all down again.

" _No dice, guys,_ " Gina said over the loudspeaker. " _You'll be turned to ash if you step foot inside_."

"We can't just leave Bubbles in there!" Buttercup yelled.

" _I know, I'll think of something, just give me a minute…._ "

"We don't _have_ a minute! The building…."

She didn't need to say it. We could all see the building crumbling and collapsing before our eyes. And then the laughter returned.

A figure stepped out from behind the flames with two people tucked beneath their arms. Bubbles was under one arm and a worker under the other. As for their knight in shining armour, he almost literally looked like a knight in shining armour, complete with a shiny helmet and platemail over blue clothing. I could see the hilt of a massive sword sticking out from behind his back just to complete the look. What made it feel a little odd was all the hi-tech gear on the guy, like the gears around his legs and arms or the blinking lights on his chest. He was like some kind of robot space knight or something.

"Worry not fellow protectors of peace, for I have arrived!" he yelled. He put the two of them down, and before I knew it, the Powerpuff Girls had rushed to their sides, checking that they were still alive. Meanwhile, I tended to the far more important question of our guest's identity.

"Who are you?" I asked. He looked at me, and I couldn't really tell what he was thinking behind his futuristic blue visor.

"Who am I? Well, I am the protector of peace, justice incarnate! With a blade that hungers for justice, I administer judgement to the forces of evil! I am none other than… The Turquoise Tempest!"

 _Great, another complete and total moron_ , I thought to myself. It didn't help that he was dressed in _cobalt_ blue, not turquoise. Before I could correct his inferior knowledge of colours, Turquoise Tempest turned around, clutching his sword as he stared at the burning building. Now I could see that there were big gaps in the blade, like the sword was actually a big hollowed out computer chip, like all of the gold and silicon was ripped out. As soon as he grasped it, the gaps began to fill up with bright yellow energy, like it was part longsword and part lightsaber.

He swung it with a ground shaking roar, practically letting out an entire storm from his sword (although apparently he was too cheap to bring thunder and lightning with it). The wind hit the building and within a matter of moments the fire had been almost completely put out. Before I could understand what had happened, most of the flames were smouldering remnants of their former selves. Unfortunately, the building started to die with them, crumbling to pieces before our eyes.

It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. We all stared slack jawed as the entire building fell to pieces, collapsing in a massive heap of rubble. Sure, it was impressive taking down a whole factory without even touching it, but _he took out a whole factory_. He was trying to _save_ it! We were lucky nobody was still inside!

Turquoise Tempest stayed completely still with his sword still held out to his side, completely parallel to the ground. It wasn't hard to guess that his thoughts were something along the lines of 'oops'.

With a disgruntled cough, he turned around to look at us.

"Ahem…. Justice has been served! The day has… mostly… been saved! Like a storm, I shall return! Wherever there is evil I shall douse it! Hey-ho!" He pointed his blade in a random direction as far from us as possible, and in the blink of an eye he was gone, just leaving a blurry afterimage of where he once was, and a rapidly fading trail of blue colour.

The sirens blared in the background, but nobody knew exactly what to do, not even the firemen now that the fire was out.

"Okay, I'm done," Buttercup said, tossing her hands in the air. "If you need me, I'm getting a pizza. We can't have just _one_ normal day in Townsville, just _one_ …."

* * *

 **Alright! And we're done! I actually had this specific chapter done _months_ ago, and it's only now I've been able to upload it in good faith that I'll upload again next week. So there's been a massive influx of favs and follows between now and then so first of all I must say, _thank all of you who stuck with me even after all of this!_ You have no idea how glad I am that you're all still reading! There's a million other fanfic you could be reading right now, many of which are considerably better than this one too! You guys really do make me wanna keep writing this stuff knowing that somebody enjoyed it, and maybe took away a part of it to their daily lives. To those who are newcomers, welcome! Welcome to my (mostly) weekly updates now! I'm happy to know that you read all this way, so I hope you enjoy the rest of the ride! I update on Fridays pretty consistently, although I may be a day or two late on rare occasions. The internet connection where I live is really spotty so it's a miracle I'm even online at all... Leave reviews whenever possible! I respond to them all, no exceptions (I say this whilst fully aware that I forgot to reply to tsilver, something I shall hopefully have fixed by the time I upload this). SO! SHOUTOUTS!**

 **Favourites: 1DSupernova (I can't think of anything witty to say), AuroraX7 (are you perhaps a Digimon? Shoutmon X7 perhaps?), CocoaFlower21 (she's written a whole bunch of stuff, someone please check them out for me, I'd love to read them if they're good!), Proper Prose (Nice alliteration there!), deletedandnewaccount (I don't even know where to start on your name but it has amused me!), and nightmaster000 (the 000 reminds me so much of secret squirrel! Ah, back in the day...), thank you so very much for the favourites! I'm always somewhat shocked that people actually like my weird little story enough to favourite it!**

 **I would get to the new follows too but this list is already long so I'll get to them next week along with anyone who's new. I would like to add a shoutout. Remember that time when I said go read "Unexpected" by "ICantThinkofanOriginalName"? And I said I didn't like colour pairings but this one amused me? Well, I think that may change... I'm still not really a colour pairing fan, but the story "Ice and Fire" by the same author really got to me. This is good, like _really_ good! I couldn't put it down when I first started reading it! It's a CONSIDERABLE step up from Unexpected (an unexpected step up. Hehe...), with the relationship actually growing organically and believably. With the way I kind of lazily suggested the previous story, it's only fair I give this one its fair due bit of respect because I enjoyed it and I wish it was more popular. Go read that, ESPECIALLY if you like Brick/Blossom pairings.**

 **Anyway, I'm done here for now. I'll update Friday next week! See you all then!**

 **I'm glad to be back.**

 **And thanks.**


	13. WE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO CAMP HALF-BLOOD

**Ugh, writing sucks so much... Forcing yourself to sit down and write a five thousand boring words just to write five hundred words of a cool action scene or one sentence that drastically changes everything... it's such a drag. It's a special kinda madness that only writers can willingly do and enjoy, and very few who can somehow make the boring bits sound fun and exciting too. I still think it's totally worth it but darn it it's so much harder now!**

 **NaNoWriMo is nearly over, signalling this year as the WORST NaNo I have EVER done in my life. My first attempt was better! Come on, how did I go backwards at this stuff? That's actually really worrying because I wanted this NaNo to give these chapters a boost so the next break will come much later and be for much shorter, but that's not really happening this time. There's still a bunch of chapters, but I'm scared I won't even finish part 2 of this story by the time I'm done so it will just be hanging there at some random cliffhanger for months on end. That's pretty bad...**

 **Well, hopefully that won't happen. So, here comes a chapter!**

 **CHAPTER 13: WE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO CAMP HALF-BLOOD**

"I don't like her, Saffron."

"I believe you've mentioned this before, Princess."

"Well I'll mention it again. I _really_ don't like her."

"This is nothing new. You don't like a lot of people."

"Yes but when I don't like somebody, I make _sure_ that they know it! But this new girl, Bronze-"

"Brass."

"Whatever! She's just… weird! It's like she doesn't even care! I'll laugh at her and call her names but she just… just…."

"Sandbags it?"

"Exactly! She… does whatever commoner term you just used. She does that! It's infuriating!"

Saffron rolled her eyes and went back to examining her violin. Well, the music department's violin. I'm pretty sure we had some group activity to do, something to do with composing songs in some archaic style or something, but everybody had forgotten what it was by now. Brass had picked up a violin and after a few notes that sounded like cats dying, gotten the hang of it. By now she'd attracted half the class as she played some insane tune with ease. She'd already cycled through most of the instruments in the music department, including the triangle! And she was good at all of them! What was that?!

It totally wasn't fair. _I_ was meant to be the centre of attention! The violin was _my_ instrument after I got daddy to get the best teachers that money could buy! Yet this upstart would dare to show up _me_? Unheard of! And even if I _could_ insult her (which I couldn't with the way the public was so enamoured with the child), she just didn't seem to care! She either looked completely baffled or had the stupidest grin on her face! It made no sense!

"Uh, Princess, are you okay?" Saffron asked, concern in her voice. I didn't really blame her. I was grinding my teeth and my fingers were half an inch into the wood of the table I was clutching.

"Of course I am," I growled. "This doesn't bother me at all!"

"Umm…. Hey, let's not worry about the new kid! Instead… umm… think about the camping trip that's coming up!" For a second, I lost my focus as I thought of something else I didn't like.

"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me," I said, trying my best (and failing) to mellow out. "We're all going to 'rough it in the great outdoors' just outside Townsville. Oh joy."

"Aw come on Princess, it won't be that bad! Think about it, it'll be a break away from this place. You won't have to worry about school or music or being a hero or anything! You'll have all the time and space you want to calm down and take in some fresh, non-polluted air! _Or_ you could use that time to rant and complain until you don't feel mad anymore!"

"Well, it _has_ been a while since I've really gone on a rant about our idiot classmates to you…."

"You see? It'll be fun!"

"Yeah…. And I know the Powerpuffs will be there, but it's not like I'll have to share a tent with them! It'll just be us three! Me, you, and Gina!"

"Uh…. About that…."

"What? Don't tell me you already found _another_ tent to be with?"

"No…. It's just that, apparently the groups have already been decided…."

"What?! I thought we got to pick our own groups?!"

"Well, the organising committee thought it would be a good idea if we got to mingle with each other more, so names were just pulled out of a hat."

"I never heard about that!"

"That's because it happened during first period, while you were away stopping a bank robbery."

"And being glamorous doing it too! Then… who am Ipaired with?"

Saffron put down her instrument and drummed her fingers on the table. She didn't even look me in the eyes when she said it.

"You, Georgina Gear, and Robin Snyder…."

I slammed my face onto the desk in resignation. Just great. Gina was fine, if not a little on the geeky side of things, but Robin was definitely not someone I wanted to spend two nights with.

You see, back when we were little kids, her and I were friends! We both understood what it was like to be trampled on by the Powerpuff Girls! And then I used and betrayed her to try and get the Powerpuffs to let me join them. It didn't work out. Ever since then, she's been giving me the stink eye when we meet at school.

Honestly, she was just being a big baby. Nobody got hurt at the end of the day. Well, her _feelings_ were hurt, but that was all water under the bridge! But that didn't matter. We had a mutual unspoken agreement to not associate with each other ever, but we couldn't honour our agreement if we were stuck in the same group for three days.

"Hey, cheer up!" Saffron said. "I'll still be around to talk to. You'll be fine! You'll have fun."

I glared at her with as much intensity as I could muster. I was _not_ going to be fine, and I was _not_ going to have fun….

* * *

I hate it when I'm right.

Okay, I love it when I'm right about how amazing I am, but right then and there I really hated it. The bus ride was awkward before it even started.

We were all gathered outside the rusty hunk of metal that was our school bus, packing our bags inside it. Robin was already there waiting for us with her stupidly long brown hair to rival Blossom's and her cargo shorts and blouse that looked like it came from the same place that Saffron gets her sports equipment.

"Robin!" Gina yelled from right next to my ear. She had decided to go with an enormous wide brimmed sun hat that would have been fashionable if she'd decided to wear something other than a school tracksuit. Seriously, the forest green and white piping looked dreadful on her, or anyone really.

Anyway, Robin noticed Gina by the time she was frantically waving at her and smiled, waving back. Then she saw me and her expression became stony.

"Hey Gina," she said. "And Princess."

"Robin! It's so nice to see you again!" I said, genuinely trying my best not to sound condescending (according to Gina, I failed miserably).

"We met just last week to plan the trip and what we were bringing," she reminded me.

"Really? Well, I meet up with a lot of people, so it's no surprise that I can't remember you at all! Hahaha! Haha… ha…. It was a joke…."

 _Great job, Princess, way to make friends_!

"A-anyway, I know you two don't always get along," Gina said, "but you're both _my_ friends… I think…. So if you can get along with me, then you can get along with each other! Am I right?"

"Politics doesn't work that way, Gina," I whispered to her.

"What was that?" Robin asked.

"Nothing! Let me just get my stuff…. Mitch! Elmer! Chop chop!"

Right on cue, two kids showed up dragging massive carts full of pink and yellow branded suitcases behind them.

"Princess, what's all of this?" Robin asked as they started trying to force them into the bus.

"My luggage of course!" I said cheerily. "Be careful with that! Those are fragile and cost more than your house! Ah who am I kidding, I can always buy more!"

"But… we're going camping. You can't bring all this stuff with you!"

"Why not? They said bring all the essentials."

"There's no _way_ those are essentials! You were just meant to bring stuff for cooking! Pots and pans and stuff!"

"I did! Including a solar powered mini-fridge, a small stove, and a small TV, complete with NetFlix! Of course, I brought a few other things to really complete the trip, like all my best clothes, a few hairproducts, a thousand dollars in cash—two hundred of which I'm using to pay these two fine young gentlemen for their service so it's _not_ slave labour…."

"Why did you bring a thousand dollars with you to the middle of nowhere?!"

"To pay people to set up the tent for us. _Duh_!"

"Princess… that's _not_ how camping works!"

"Well then maybe I just want camping to work _better_ , the Princess way!"

We went back and forth like this until Miss Keane came between us to bring the peace. Unfortunately, she agreed with Robin, and since she was one of the few people who _didn't_ suck up to the Powerpuffs and tried to give me a chance, I wasn't gonna argue with her too.

With some moaning and groaning, I got to work unpacking my stuff and calling someone to pick them up. It was pretty clear to me that camping sucked, and I hadn't even started.

After a few hours of driving, we eventually arrived in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and dirt and dirty trees. Instead of traffic, we heard birds and smelt mud and pinecones, and the only sign that anybody even knew where this place was, was the beaten down dirt path that we had to take to get to our campsite (that nobody seemed to want to mention was an entire six hour hike just to reach). And even then, the place was nothing more than a big circle filled with (you guessed it) even _more_ dirt, and some rocks in a circle that were probably meant to house a campfire.

We got right to work setting up our tents, and mostly failing. After the thing collapsed twice on top of us ("see, _this_ is why I don't do manual labour!") we'd finally set up what must have been a poor person's igloo. By that time, the sun had fallen and it was time for dinner. Of course, that couldn't _possibly_ go smoothly!

Thirty minutes later and we were _still_ cleaning the tuna out of our hair. Don't ask what happened because I'm not sure if anybody else knows either.

Filled with nothing but terrible cup noodles after our dinner disaster, I felt pretty sulky by the time we all gathered around the campfire to roast marshmallows and do whatever dumb camping stuff people did. I actually felt pretty bad for Gina.

She didn't really strike me as the outdoors type, but she had been trying her best to enjoy it, but thanks to our arguing she looked like she'd pretty much given up. The other groups were clearly having much more fun. Blossom had been paired up with Brass and some other girl I didn't know, and they looked like they were having a blast. Brass had even brought a flute with her. _Three_ flutes so she could teach the others how to play. Why? I don't know. The girl was strange.

And that's when Buttercup brought out a flashlight.

"It was on a night just like this," she said, turning it on beneath her face so it cast a ghastly shadow on her. "A group of hikers, not so different from ourselves, were out in these exact same woods. The moon was full and the air was still."

"Buttercup, what're you doing?" Bubbles asked as she stuffed her face with marshmallows. "You're not telling a ghost story, are you?"

"So what if I am? We're in the middle of the woods surrounded by creatures and ghouls of the night, this is the _perfect_ time for ghost stories!"

"This is the perfect time _not_ to tell them!"

"Oh relax, everyone knows they're not real anyway… except… the legend of the Rugaroo!"

The fire flickered, and everyone looked around nervously. I had to fight to stop myself from snorting at the ridiculousness of her words. Rugaroo…. Sounded like a four year old made it up!

"The Rugaroo is a horrifying monster, with worms for veins and darkness for eyes, and it feeds off of human flesh once every ten years…. It can smellyour fear and hear your heartbeat like a countdown to your death! And do you know what the worst part is? It finds those whose fear is strongest, captures them… and turns them into Rugaroos too!"

"Come _on_ , if you're gonna tell ghost stories you should at least be good at it," I complained. Buttercup glared at me, but rolled her eyes and ignored it. Robin… not so much.

"I don't see _you_ doing any better," she said.

"That's because I don't want to. I'm not gonna waste my energy telling dumb stories."

"Yeah, exactly!" Bubbles squeaked. "So can we _please_ just wait for Miss Keane to come back with hot dogs?"

"Yeah, sure," Buttercup said. "The Rugaroo _loves_ hot dogs, almost as much as it likes eating little kids!"

"C'mon Buttercup, that's not funny-"

"Boo!"

Bubbles shrieked and leaped ten feet in the air before cowering behind Blossom. Buttercup broke out into laughter just as Bubble's face changed from terror to confusion, then irritation.

"Fine! If you're gonna be like that, then you don't need me here!" Bubbles stormed off, leaving behind her sister who was practically rolling on the floor in laughter.

"Bubbles!" Blossom yelled. "Buttercup, see what you've done?"

"Hey, it's not my fault that she's a big baby!" Gina looked at them, then looked at Robin and I.

"I'm gonna go after her," she said. Please. She thought I didn't see what she did there? She must have seen the tension between us and used Bubbles as an excuse to get away. Anyway, she dismissed herself before anybody else could say anything and jogged after her. Buttercup composed herself and carried on telling the story. It wasn't until she was halfway through that Saffron brought up something that none of us had even thought about until then.

"Shouldn't Miss Keane be back by now?" she asked.

"Yeah, she was just getting hot dogs," Mitch said. And then we heard screams to make our blood run cold. We were all silent.

"Was that… Bubbles?" Buttercup asked.

"Come on, let's go!" Blossom said. Before we could so much as blink, the two of them were gone. A little bit more clumsily, the rest of us scrambled after them.

After stumbling through the woods for about five minutes, we caught up to them. They'd stopped in front of a clump of small trees that had been decapitated. Apparently, whoever our midnight lumberjack was preferred to chop down trees with acid rather than chainsaws because the stumps were smoking with weird, yellow goo on them.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked.

"It's Bubbles," Blossom replied, crouching low to the ground. "She's… she's gone!" She held up a piece of light blue cloth, probably torn from her shirt.

"Gina isn't much better either," Saffron added as she picked up a pair of glasses. I imagine stumbling blind through the forest wasn't one of her hobbies.

"It's the Rugaroo!" Elmer cried.

"What? That's stupid!" Buttercup yelled. "I made that story up! She can't be kidnapped by something that's not real!"

"We have to stay calm," Blossom said before the panic could escalate. "We don't know _what_ happened, and random guesses aren't gonna help us. We need to stick together and-"

"I think I can track this ooze," Buttercup said. "Hold on, Bubbles!" In a flash of green light, she was gone, leaving nothing behind but the swirling wind.

"I-I'm gonna look for Miss Keane," Elmer said, heading back for the campsite.

"I'll look for something big to hit the Rugaroo with," Mitch said. Blossom looked at them all incredulously as everyone started splitting up.

"Did _any_ of you just hear what I said?"

"I'm afraid not," I replied as I started to head back for camp. Sticking together actually was the best idea, but apparently nobody else watched horror movies. I decided to recruit Elmer and Mitch as my bodyguards since they hadn't finished working for their pay.

"We need to stick together," Saffron said from behind me.

" _Duh_. That's why I'm looking for Mitch and Elmer."

"Good plan. Lemme tag along."

"What, because you know that you're lost and hopeless without me?"

"More like the other way around."

I rolled my eyes. Didn't _someone_ feel clever.

"Fine then. Come on, let's stop this place from falling apart."

* * *

The campsite looked like it had been eaten by a tornado, chewed up, and spat out. Tents were torn and upturned. The campfire was stubbed out with logs and rocks strewn all around the camp. People were milling around at a loss, trying to retrieve their belongings, but even then something seemed odd about them….

"Where's everybody else?" Saffron asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Princess, this is _half_ of the class. The other half is gone!"

"Really? I barely noticed…."

"How can you _not_ notice? That's a dozen people!"

If I had an excuse, I forgot it when I heard the trees start rustling around the campsite. It sounded like they were whispering secrets to each other, and it didn't help that they were accompanied by the grunts and snorts of some feral animal, snapping twigs and branches as it moved.

Was I scared? Maybe just a little. But I wasn't going to show it around Saffron. I tried to be bold, puffing out my shoulders and standing tall. Of course, it was a little hard to _feel_ brave when I couldn't tell whether Saffron had grabbed my hand or I had grabbed hers.

"Haha, very funny Buttercup," I said. "I know you're just trying to scare me. Quit it! We're trying to be serious here!"

The noises stopped. For a moment, I felt proud of myself for calling out Buttercup's little game. Then I heard Buttercup scream, a mile in the opposite direction. There were great flashes of light and a pair of red laser beams shooting high into the sky like someone was hosting the most lethal rock concert ever. Then, there was silence. The only lights left in the sky were the stars and the moon, and whatever was happening was over now.

"That's… not good," Saffron said nervously as we backed away from the forest edge, but something else was bothering me. If Buttercup got jumped, then fine. We still had the reliable Powerpuff with us. But if something happened to her and Blossom wasn't chasing after her immediately? Something must have happened to her too. The night had just begun and we'd already lost all three Powerpuffs. "Princess, what's going on?"

"Whatever it is, it's a _lot_ worse than Buttercup's horror story…."

"Oh great. I feel so calm and safe now thanks to that."

"No problem. Come on, let's gather the others." Saffron stared at me in astonishment. I wasn't sure why until I realised that she was being sarcastic. Oops. Well, it was too late to own up to my blunder!

We roamed through the campsite, or what was left of it. She tried her best to calm everyone down, but there really isn't a lot you can do when all three Powerpuffs go missing.

Eventually, we managed to gather everyone in one place. It was worse than we thought. Including us, there were ten people left, all of whom looked absolutely useless.

"Okay guys, we have to stick together no matter what," Saffron said. "Whatever is out there, it's been picking us off one by one, so going solo is suicide. Fighting it is stupid so we'll try to contact the authorities. Miss Keane or some wilderness guy or heck, even our parents."

"But Saffron, we don't have any signal up here," Elmer said.

"There's more ways to call help than with a phone," Robin said. "We can find some way to send an SOS. Miss Keane packed some flares somewhere. If we light them, we're set."

It looked like we were actually getting a good plan together.

Then chaos broke out.

A huge black shadow darted out from behind the forest. Before I could even blink, it had tackled Elmer, taking him to the ground before dragging him off into the forest. I screamed, and apparently, so did everyone else, but before we'd taken so much as two steps the blur had returned, knocking over another sad sap and dragging them off.

Everyone scrambled as they tried to figure out what was going on. Mitch tore a small branch off of a tree and held it aloft like baseball bat for all the good it would do him. The blur appeared in front of him and he swung, smacking it into the side of the shadow's head. It rolled across the dirt with a pained yelp before coming to a stop and looking at him.

I'm not exactly friends with mother nature, but even I knew that thing was a freak. It was as big as a golf-cart, and obviously _far_ more menacing. Its big black eyes glistened like pearls as it roared at us. It was like a demon pincushion with arms and legs, with bristly fur sticking out in all directions. It took a step forward, flexing its legs that, strangely enough, had some weird kind of webbing between them and its body, almost like… almost like bat wings.

It leaped at Mitch, but I never got to see what happened next because Saffron pulled me away, running as fast as her legs would let her go.

"Princess, where's your suit?!" she asked.

"I left it at home!"

"You thought it was a good idea to bring a miniature TV screen, but none of your suits?!"

"I'm… Gina! She must have some gadgets!"

"Well Gina isn't here right now!"

"Then we'll find them in her tent!"

Thanks to that mutt, her tent was nothing more than a few broken sticks and some leftover acid, but I didn't have the time to be grossed out by digging through the trash. We dived for the rubble, scraping through it in a desperate search for something, _anything_ that could help us.

I heard an ear-splitting roar behind me. I turned around to see the monster just a few feet away, crouched down and ready to pounce. I screamed as it lunged, just in time for Robin to tackle it instead.

The two tumbled through the ground before springing apart. The monster snarled at her, and it looked like Robin was trying to figure out what the rest of her plan was going to be.

Luckily, she didn't have to. Saffron yelled in triumph as she pulled out what looked like five, still compacted nanobots. She threw them at the monster and they exploded like fireworks, sending bright sparks and flashes of colour everywhere as the monster howled in pain.

I was still staring in awe when I felt Saffron yank me to my feet. She pulled Robin up too and together, the three of us fled for the depths of the forest, as far away from the beast as possible.

* * *

We sprinted for thirty minutes straight.

Honestly, I have no idea why I didn't just collapse and die from exhaustion, but Saffron actually looked _better_ afterwards. Freaking fitness freak….

When we'd finally gotten a far enough distance that Saffron felt satisfied, we ground to a halt, collapsing to the ground and wheezing for breath.

"What… what was that?" Robin asked between gasps.

"Don't know, don't care," I replied. "Whatever it is, we can't fight it. We've got to get out of here, then I can get my suit and blow it to bits."

"But the others…."

"It's too late for them! If we stay here any longer, we'll be next!"

"I can't just leave without my friends! Blossom and the others are still missing!"

"And you will be too, or worse! We leave, get weapons and reinforcements, then come back to save what's left."

"I don't wanna pick up leftovers, I wanna get them all back in one piece!"

" _We_ need to stay in one piece! Look, I'm not gonna argue this any longer, we are _not_ going back where that thing is waiting for us!"

"So you're just gonna leave the others to die?"

"Stop!" Saffron screamed. Both of us (amazingly) stopped and stared at her. She was clenching her fists so hard they were trembling, and her face was tilted down so we couldn't even see it.

"Saffron, what is it now?" I asked, but then stopped in my tracks. She was rubbing at her eyes. I might not have been able to see it, but I could tell she was trying not to cry.

"We're in the middle of nowhere with no food, no water, no weapons and no way home. Some… some _thing_ has attacked our friends and is trying to kill us. I get it. You're scared of what's gonna happen to us, to everyone. So am I! I just want to curl up in a ball and cry until I wake up from this nightmare. But fighting isn't going to help anyone!

"Robin, I get that you want to save everyone, but they're counting on us! We can't get ourselves killed doing something stupid. Not when we're the only ones who can help! And Princess, we don't have the time to leave! They're probably safe since it didn't kill us on the spot, but we don't know for how long. We have to save them ASAP. Now, I know you two don't like each other, but you're going to have to stuff it and work together so we can all make it out of here alive. Are we clear?"

She glared at the two of us in turn, daring us to speak against her. Robin took a deep breath with her eyes shut before nodding her head. I gracefully accepted her terms (well, as gracefully as you can stuff your hands in your pockets and mumble).

"Great. We'll get along perfectly!" she said, forcing herself to be cheerful. "Now, we can forget about going back to camp, if there's anything left of it. I'm not sure we could even find it if we tried. We need to find out where everyone's being taken too."

"I can probably track the monster down, and by extension, the others," Robin said. "I'm pretty good at this kind of thing."

"Perfect. Now, we can't go back immediately. Let's give it some time, six hours at most. I wanna light a fire and make some kinda SOS but that would alert it too, so we'll have to do this ourselves. For now, let's sleep."

I hadn't even noticed that I was tired until she said that, but sleep sounded like the greatest thing ever.

We didn't have much to work with in terms of tents, and lighting a campfire was too risky, so we huddled up beneath a clump of trees and Robin tied a bunch of the branches together like a canopy. We huddled together and tried to get to sleep while on the rocks and dirt and itchy grass and bugs and other gross forest things.

In short: I hated it.

* * *

When I woke up in the morning, it felt like I'd hardly slept at all. It was still dark out, and our breakfast were chocolate bars that Saffron had stored for energy. With that taken care of, we carried out our search.

I'd love to regale you with a tale of Robin's brilliant detective skills, but that would have been boring, so I'll skip all the dull tidbits. Long story short: she poked around at a bunch of random stuff near the scene of the crime and somehow figured out that the monster was somewhere to the east. After a few hours and losing the trail three times, we finally came to a stop by a waterfall. It wasn't too tall, probably a thirty foot drop. We were at the bottom, and Robin was staring at the massive wall of water, her brows furrowed.

"Well then, where to now?" I asked. "All I see is this big waterfall and the river it empties into."

"Well… I'm not sure," she said. "I lost the trail, but not because it disappeared… but because there's lots of trails. Footprints everywhere, marks like stuff was dragged…."

"Well, it did drag our entire class here. It must have come in and out a lot, and any other footprints might be from people who escaped?" Robin didn't look too certain, but she stayed quiet. Instead, she walked towards the edge of the stream, just by the side of the waterfall. She stepped into the water, wading towards the curtain of water. "Uh, Robin, what are you doing?" In reply, she just stepped behind the curtain of water.

"There's a cave here," her voice yelled back, distorted by the running water. Saffron and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders before following her.

Getting drenched by the water was the least of my worries. As soon as I stepped through the water curtain, my nose was assaulted by a vile, unrepentant smell. It was like mouldy salami was left out in the sun for a week. There was something else sweet in the air, but I couldn't tell what it was. My eyes eventually adjusted to the gloom to reveal a large cave with large globs of bright yellow goo everywhere, even stuck to the ceiling. I didn't really know what they were for, but I knew that I didn't want to touch them, or even get close to them.

Saffron looked around in wonder, drinking in the atmosphere through her eyes.

"What the heck is this place?" she asked.

"Must be its hideout," Robin answered. "We get in, find our friends, and get out. I hate to play favourites, but we have to free Blossom and the others first. We can't exactly fight with sticks and stones."

Yes, my dear reader, she meant that quite literally. Saffron had a big stick while we'd pocketed a bunch of large stones. Not much defence against the forces of darkness, but it would do.

We trekked through the cavern and through a narrow passage, trying our best not to step on anything gross. Eventually, we came to a stop when everything became too dark to see.

"Flashlights up guys," Robin said as she turned hers on, reminding me that I'd kept one just in case of emergencies (it was even one of those dorky ones you strap to your head, proudly sponsored by DAMG to boot). In front of us was a larger part of the cave. Something was off. There were still yellow globs everywhere, but these were different.

There were people inside them.

"This… looks pretty gross," Saffron said, green with disgust.

"How do you think _I_ feel?" one of them asked to our left. From the neck down, she was encased in yellow goop, just leaving her head exposed. It was none other than Gina, and she looked like she'd gone past terrified and just accepted her fate.

"Gina, what happened to you?" I asked.

"Well… I appear to have been captured, so that's fantastic," she said. She squinted, trying hard to make us out without her glasses. "I can hear Princess and Saffron, but I'm too blind to make out the third person…."

"That's Robin, tagging along for the ride. We've come to bust you out!" I began trying to claw my way through the goo, but it was hopeless. It was like trying to dig through partially dried cement. What's worse, every time I touched it I felt dizzy and nauseous. It felt familiar, but it definitely wasn't a good feeling….

"No dice, it'll take too long to break it," she said. "The Powerpuffs are somewhere in here. Find them, free them, and wake them up. They can get us out of here!"

"Already working on it," Robin said by another goo mound. "I've found Buttercup, but something's wrong…."

I looked at her in confusion, but I saw what she meant immediately. She was looking a little green, and I wasn't talking about her colour scheme. Her skin tone was off and there were weird brown freckles everywhere. Her eyes looked unfocused, like she couldn't actually see us.

"Buttercup, snap out of it!" I yelled. "You've got no excuse for slacking off!"

"Can't… the goo… it hurts…." I looked at her in confusion before I got a swathe of the stuff off of Gina. I rubbed it between my fingers and inspected it, trying to figure out why it seemed so familiar. That's when it hit me.

"Antidote X," I said. "That's why it makes me feel sick, I've been hit with it before. This stuff is toxic to the girls!"

I was rudely interrupted by a loud hiss above my head. I looked up, and in horror, spotted the very creature we wanted to avoid hanging from the ceiling. It dived down from above. Right then and there I would have literally lost my head if Robin hadn't tackled me, pushing me out of the way.

The Rugaroo skidded to a halt and hissed before charging after her. Luckily, she was smart enough to try and run away instead of fight it.

"Hey, bacon breath!" I roared, taking out the rocks that we'd picked up earlier. With brilliant aim, I hurled a rock… and missed. It got its attention though, and by the time it turned to face me I had thrown two more, one which hit it right in the eye.

It lunged at me instead. I tried to dive out of the way, but not before one of its claws tore into my side. I howled in pain as I was sent rolling across the cold cavern. I clutched my side in pain as I felt the blood spreading across my clothes. It wasn't too bad. It felt pretty shallow, I could deal with it.

The Rugaroo snarled as it dived into the air, spreading the webbing on its side like wings. It glided over our heads, circling us for an opening. It dived down at me but not before Saffron could swing her stick at it, sending it careening across the floor. It sprang back up and dived for her now. With a terrified yelp, she leaped out of the way. It crashed into one of the mounds of goo like a missile, the whole thing falling apart and freeing its prisoner.

Unfortunately for the Rugaroo, the person it hit just so happened to be Bubbles, and now that she was freed, she wasn't too happy about the situation. She wrapped her hands around its neck, rising to her feet as she strangled the life out of the squirming abomination. She spun around, still clutching the creature before letting go, flinging it across the cavern and into the wall. It slammed into it with an earth shuddering smash, dust engulfing it. I didn't want to know what was left of it.

"Bubbles! Help me free the others!" I said.

"Y-yeah, sure," she said, though she sounded pretty shaken up. She began laser beaming all of the mounds, the goo piles falling apart. How she was precise enough to do this without drilling holes through people was beyond me.

In a few minutes, everyone was freed, including her sisters.

"Great job, Bubbles," Blossom said. "Now, let's get everyone out of here before more of them show up!"

"More of them?!" I screamed. "Wait, how many are there?"

My answer? A flood of pure darkness storming in from other hidden passages of the cavern. A lot apparently. And do you know what made things worse? There were other ones mixed in! They were like massive wasps, the size of small children, complete with massive stingers and enormous bug-like wings, but instead of being completely coated in insect armour there were patches of brown fur in-between. Whatever they were, they weren't friends of mine. If the Powerpuffs fought while everyone was watching slack jawed, things would only get messy.

"Alright losers, out of here, now!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "If we stay here, we're just getting in their way! Go, go, go!"

Everyone was still a little disoriented, but after I urged them a bit (mainly via dragging and screaming at them), we were all sprinting for the entrance as fast as we could, the Powerpuffs just behind us fighting off as many of those things as they could.

We reached the waterfall and all dived through it to the outside world, never so glad to breathe in air that didn't smell like it was from a discontinued butchery. The Powerpuffs flew into the air, looking back at the waterfall below them.

"Destroy _everything_!" Blossom ordered. The three flew back to the top of the waterfall and slammed into it. Everything exploded, tossing rocks and jets of water everywhere as the waterfall crumbled to pieces, blocking off the cavern entrance. In a matter of moments, the waterfall was no more. Instead, there were rapids, tumbling down a slope that hadn't been there just this morning.

I guess I was happy that we made it out of there alive. No matter which way I looked at it, the Powerpuffs had saved our lives. I'm not sure what else they could have done in that situation. But still, I couldn't help but wonder if defacing the natural landscape was really the best way to do it. I mean, it killed the monsters, but it probably also killed anything else living there. Was that alright?

I didn't have time to think about it any longer though, because I saw Robin approaching me.

"Wow Princess. I didn't expect to see that."

"Yeah, I know, a disappointing performance from Miss Morbucks. Well, everyone has bad days I guess." Robin shook her head.

"No, far from it. You… actually got everyone out of there, even me. I've gotta admit, I'm impressed."

"Wait… really? I didn't really do anything though. I couldn't even scratch that thing…."

"You got a good shot at it with a rock. By the way, thanks for that!"

Oh jeez, I was blushing. I could feel it in my face.

"Pssht, duh! I'm Princess Morbucks, of _course_ I'm fabulous," I boasted, trying my best to cover it up. Robin rolled her eyes, but for once she left me to my gloating. The Powerpuffs started to float back down to the ground, and it looked like Blossom was doing a quick head count. And it didn't look like she liked what she saw.

"We're missing someone," she said. "Guys… where's Brass?" Everyone murmured to each other in confusion, trying to figure out when the last time anyone saw her was. "Brass? Brass!"

"Over here!" a voice cried out from behind the trees. Brass stepped out from beneath the bushes, her clothes torn up and covered in bramble. It looked like she'd tumbled down a hill for an hour, and had fun doing it judging by the huge smile on her face.

"Brass! Where were you?! The monsters didn't get you?"

"Monsters?" she asked in confusion. "Umm… I don't think so? I just got sidetracked. I was on my own listening to music when I saw the most adorable little puppy _ever_! I followed it out into the forest and was playing with it when I realised that I was lost…. So I said farewell and I've been looking for you guys ever since!"

"Puppies…. You were distracted… by puppies… in the middle of the woods…."

"I don't think those were puppies," Bubbles said. "The only things close to a dog that live here are wolves. I can't believe you were playing with wolf cubs and you're alive to tell the tale."

"Well, its parents did start to get pretty angry after a while so I had to let it go," she said with a laugh. "So, shall we go back? I still didn't get to have any hot dogs!"

"Yeah! Hot dogs!" Buttercup cheered with enthusiasm, already shooting off towards the sky… then coming back down to ask for directions back to camp.

That day was so strange, that it was no surprise that we were all too tired to question Brass a little bit more. Perhaps we should have, because if we did, maybe we would have looked just over the hedge that she came through, and seen the 'puppies' she'd been playing with were actually a small army of Rugaroos, all laying still with only one person who could have possibly been responsible….

* * *

 **Dum dum duuuum! So that happened! This writing thing is kinda tricky... It feels like I'm learning how to write all over again, and I'm so slow it's unreal. The motivation isn't there either so I've been spending a lot of my free time lately binge watching anime instead, and I'm not particularly proud of that. I like watching anime, but I also like (sometimes) talking to people and playing guitar and going outside and _writing_ and _living_ too, and I wasted so much time as a kid just watching anime and playing games. Time that could have been spent learning how to code or draw or play guitar or _actually write well_ , so this is a really stark reminder of the kind of person I can become... On the plus side, at least the anime I'm watching is really cool. Ever heard of _Space Battleship Yamato 2199_? If you like military strategy, sci fi, and maybe mecha anime (it's not a mecha anime) laced with commentary of the use of power and the intergenerational trauma of WWII on Japan and their psyche and THE MOST AWESOME BATTLESHIP EVER then this is right up your alley. It's a remake of an old 70s one so there's some stuff that feels archaic about it, but the anime more than makes up for it. All I was expecting was a campy tour through space and explosions, but I got so much more, and that's awesome.**

 **Anyway, on to shoutouts! (I'm not mentioning anybody who already followed though because I'm kinda sleep deprived right now and need rest)**

 **It's basically everyone new who followed, and 'samgreen90' (you wouldn't happen to be a long lost sibling of Hank and John Green, would you?) thank you so much for giving my story a chance! Well, I'll see you all next week!**


	14. I'LL BE YOU AND YOU'LL BE ME

**Hey everybody! I'm super sorry that this is so late, an ENTIRE DAY LATE even! Ah! I don't even have an excuse like I was busy or anything, I just didn't want to look at any writing... Ugh, I feel terrible. So, NaNoWriMo is finally over! And... it went terrible. To date, this is the WORST NaNoWriMo I have ever done ever. Even worse than my first ever attempt and I started that halfway through the month with no plan or idea of what I was doing. And I don't usually win NaNoWriMo so normally I'd still feel quite proud of myself because there's no WAY I'd write so much in a month normally, but the amount I wrote was the amount of writing I'd NORMALLY have gotten done in a month, and not all of it was even for this story, so I LITERALLY may as well have not even tried. I. Feel. Like. Trash. Especially because that now means I'm gonna run out of chapters much sooner than I thought... Well, hopefully I'll step my game up and get ahead soon! Or I'll just end up playing Persona 5 as a way of distracting myself from this until I go on a nine month long hiatus or something... But that probably won't happen!**

 **CHAPTER 14: I'LL BE YOU AND YOU BE ME**

So, we were all standing around a smoking crater, staring at what was left of the monster that was endangering the city. The land around us had practically been flattened. It was hard to believe, but once, it had been an entire city block.

Naturally, I was furious. Apparently, so was Blossom.

"What on earth are you doing?!" I yelled. "This, _this_ , isn't how you save the day!"

"Lay off, Princess!" she shouted back. "We stopped the monster and nobody got hurt. That's what matters."

"That's only because that Blue Breeches guy was here to evacuate everyone!"

"It's Turquoise Tempest!" he cried, before actually almost crying in pain. He was sitting on the ground, resting against the remnants of a pipe and clutching his blood-stained stomach while Bubbles tried her best to reassure him and provide first aid. I would have felt a little bad for him, but I was too busy being mad at Blossom. Plus, he made my case easier to argue.

"You see this?" I pointed out. "Because _you_ got reckless, the rookie ended up getting hurt! What would you do if he was dead?!" Blossom rolled her eyes, apparently unconvinced.

"He's a superhero. He knew what he was getting into."

"So there's no need for us to make his life harder!"

"Look, Princess, it's not like we wanted to blow up a city block, but we ran out of options. If we waited a second longer, people's lives would have been in danger."

" _Please_ , you're the Powerpuff Girls! A puny monster like that should have been nothing for you. You could have dragged it out of the city and disposed of it there."

"It was twenty feet tall and breathing fire! Even if we did, it would have torched everything on the way out!"

"Then why didn't you freeze it first?"

"I-I don't know, I panicked!"

"Ha, see? Right there! How can the fearless leader of the Powerpuff Girls be allowed to panic if she's such a great hero, huh? I thought you said you ran out of options? Well clearly you had plenty of options, but you didn't take them! You got overconfident and screwed up, and then you panicked and this happened! Some hero you are."

I crossed my arms just to add emphasis. I was sure I got her with that one. I knew she'd never accept that I won the argument. She would just turn up her nose and fly away, but it felt great to take her down a peg. However, that didn't happen. Instead, she clenched her fists, tighter and tighter until her arms were trembling. Buttercup had mainly just stood to the side watching us argue but even she looked concerned now.

"Yo, Bloss, are you okay?" she asked. "Let's just go. No need to waste time on her…."

It looked like Blossom didn't hear her.

"Fine," she said.

"Wait… what?"

"I said, fine!" she repeated, completely ignoring her sister. "Since you think you can do such a good job, why don't you prove it then!" She glared at me with an intensity that could probably burn down forests. As intimidating as it she was though, I wasn't going to back down. I pointed a righteous finger at her, and with all the confidence in my body, spoke:

"Fine! Blossom Utonium, I challenge you to a battle! My victory will prove to you that I'm not only a better hero, but I'm also a superior fighter who's _more_ than worthy to fight whatever threatens Townsville!"

"What?!" Buttercup yelled. I couldn't really blame her. It was only a few months ago that she was beating me into the ground, and now I was challenging her leader! She looked at Blossom with a sideways look that was halfway between incredulous laughter and pleading for my sake. "Blossom, you can't actually accept that, right?"

Apparently, Blossom wasn't clenching her fists tight enough, because now there was blood running down her palms and fingernails. She looked down at me with cold eyes, devoid of the warmth she normally had.

"Alright Princess, you're on," Blossom replied. "Pick a time and a place, I'll be there."

A part of me was actually surprised. Another part of me was somewhat frightened. But I'd gotten what I wanted, there was no way I was backing down now!

"We'll meet in the desert, far beyond the city limits. Unlike you, I actually _care_ about this city, and I wouldn't want you destroying everything in a foolish attempt to save it."

"Fine then."

"Fine."

Fine!"

She turned around furiously, her hair whipping through the air before she took off, leaving both of her sisters behind as they stared up at her in stunned silence.

"W-wait, Blossom!" Buttercup cried out as she followed her. Bubbles looked between us, not sure who she was supposed to speak to in order to sort things out. Hesitantly, she flew after her siblings.

I stared up at them until I couldn't see so much as a speck of light from them. I was so surprised that she actually accepted my invitation, that I almost forgot I was angry. Then, a voice crackled over my speakers.

" _Princess… do you know what you've gotten yourself into?_ " Gina asked with concern.

"Of course! I might be brash at times, but I wouldn't say something like that without a plan."

" _I don't think a plan's gonna help you here! Just… don't forget to bring the specimen!_ "

I looked into the middle of the crater at the smoking remnants of the dragon we'd just been facing. I supposed carrying it would be a warm up….

* * *

"You realize she's going to destroy you," Gina stated. It wasn't even a question, it was just a fact of life, like that day follows night, or that I was filthy rich.

"Please Gina, do you really doubt me that much?" I asked.

"Doubt isn't the issue. She's a Powerpuff Girl, you're a human. This isn't a fight!"

I'd dragged the carcass of the dragon out of the city and to my expertly hidden secret underground weapons stash. Well, expertly hidden if you ignored the barbed wire and security cameras and massive antennas and anti-aircraft turrets at least….

Anyway, we were in the weapons development lab. There were shelves and benches that were stacked full of arcane tools that probably only Gina knew how to use, and on a workbench in the middle of the room was the tail of the dragon we'd defeated earlier, with Gina standing menacingly over it with a very sharp knife. I wasn't even sure she was paying any attention to me until she started speaking, never once looking away from her patient.

"You guys are both heroes. Your jobs are to _save_ people, and you can't do that if you're too busy beating each other to the ground!"

"Ha! _I'll_ be the one that does the beating here!"

"Not that I don't believe you, which I totally don't, but that's not the point. We've been seeing some pretty freaky looking hyper aggressive monsters the past few weeks, including _this_ big guy!" She patted the tail roughly, and I swear the thing twitched. "We don't know what they are or where they came from, but we now have a specimen that's still intact. If we can find out more about them, we might be able to stop their attacks!"

"Isn't that your job, not mine?"

"It's your job to beat them though! And you can't do that if all your bones are broken from fighting with Blossom! I need you on standby and in good condition!" I smirked. Gina was concerned for my health. Cute.

"Then I'll just make sure not to lose."

" _Then Blossom will be injured instead, making the Powerpuff Girls useless!_ C'mon Princess, be rational!"

"I am being rational. I'm rationally plotting the demise of Blossom Utonium." Gina let out a deep breath, rubbing her temples with her fingertips.

"Fine. Go and get your butt kicked. I'll be doing your _job_ for you."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't be bothered to think of a witty retort as I headed for the elevator out. All I could think about was what I was gonna do to Blossom…."

* * *

The fated battle was to take place in the middle of nowhere, a million miles from anyone who could get caught up in the crossfire. There was nothing around us but rocks, dust, and the occasional cacti. Our audience: a flock of buzzards, waiting keenly for one of us to drop dead as a snack. Buttercup and Saffron were also there. I assumed Saffron was contacted by Gina, and I also assumed that Buttercup carried her there, because I was pretty sure you couldn't get a bus fare there. Bubbles was probably too much of a crybaby to watch the fight.

"I'm only gonna say this one more time," Buttercup yelled. "This is stupid! Now, kick her butt Blossom!" I rolled my eyes. Of _course_ she wanted to see violence.

"Princess… be careful!" Saffron shouted. "I'm pretty sure I can't convince you to stop, so just… try not to get too hurt."

"Well thanks, I feel _so_ encouraged," I replied, somewhat bitter that even Blossom's sole fan girl was more enthusiastic than mine. Ignoring them, I turned my attention back to Blossom, standing twenty paces away like this was some kind of standoff (which it kinda was). She didn't even have the decency to come in her signature dress, or even something geared for combat. She was just dressed in pink jeans and a white t-shirt with a star on it. The nerve of her! I'd come in my favourite outfit, why couldn't she?

It had been a while since I'd needed the final version of the Fibre-o-Tomic (personally tweaked by Gina herself of course). It was essentially just like the Damage suit, only this one was golden instead of blue, and didn't have any annoying AIs to interrupt our battle. Designed specifically to defeat the Powerpuff Girls, nothing else was more appropriate.

"It's too late to run away now," Blossom said, her voice oddly cold.

"Ha! As if I'd run from a two bit hero like you!" I replied. "You better fight seriously if you want to walk out alive!"

"Then give me a reason too," she replied, complete with a cocky smirk and getting into a fighting stance. Huh. That was a good line. I made a mental note to steal it, even as we steeled our nerves.

The fighting was instant.

We charged forwards, slamming our arms against each other. I thought I could judge her strength based on everything I knew about her and my fight with Buttercup, but I was not expecting that kind of power. She darn near blew my arm off, and I could feel craters forming beneath my feet as I tried to push her back.

We both leaped back, and apparently, Blossom was pretty surprised by my strength too because she looked far more cautious instead of charging in like a moron. Good, it wouldn't be worth it if she wasn't taking it seriously!

She didn't waste any more time though, charging for me with a swinging kick to my face. I just barely managed to block it, but it still sent me careening through the air as I tried to get my balance. I slowed to a halt, hovering in the air as I aimed my fists down at her, firing massive arcs of electricity at her. She sprinted between them with ease, not even getting so much as grazed before she leaped up at me.

She punched me in the face, and again, I was sent flying through the air, dazed as I tried to understand what just happened. I wasn't willing to repeat the process.

I flew away, firing blasts desperately behind me in the hope that they would slow her down. Obviously, they didn't do anything.

I scanned the ground below me, looking for the perfect opening. I found it when I spotted a canyon, and headed for it. Blossom wasn't too pleased, raining laser beams down at me from above.

I tried to dodge as much as I could, even if it meant slamming into the walls to do it, but even then I couldn't help getting a few hairs dangerously singed. It didn't matter, every scrape and bruise down there would bring me closer to my goal!

"Don't tell me that all you can do is run away," Blossom said, the annoyance clear in her voice.

"Running? Ha! What are you talking about?" I replied, a cocky smile growing on my face. "This _is_ fighting!"

"What're you-"

Like hell I was gonna let her talk! I flew out of the canyon and pushed a button on the side of my helmet. The canyon erupted in a thousand balls of fire, crumbling within itself and burying Blossom within it. Some would argue that explosive traps set beforehand were unfair, but those people have clearly never fought against a Powerpuff Girl. That barely even counted as an attack to her. In fact, all it did is buy time as she flew out of the rubble moments later, not particularly pleased.

I couldn't relay the next ten seconds if I tried.

As far as I can tell, we exchanged blows at blinding speeds. Punches, kicks, elbows, knees, and anything else that could be used as a weapon, meeting with parries and blocks calculated before we could even register what was happening. It wouldn't be exaggerating to say dozens of blows were traded in each second. But, I was losing, and she knew it. For every blow I dealt, I received ten more, and not even my suit could stop the sharp pains appearing all over my body.

I had to end it.

So, instead of relying on brute force, I grabbed Blossom by the arm, using the force of her own blow to swing her around and throw her to the earth with everything I had. She fell like a brilliant shooting star, crashing into the ground with a glorious explosion.

I felt my jetboots stalling as my suit tried to recharge, but I couldn't give Blossom that chance. With a roar, I fired more bolts of lightning, and this time there was no way she could dodge. Arcs of electricity and rising clouds of dust and split rock flew thousands of feet into the air from the blast, but that _still_ wasn't good enough.

I flew down, clenching my fist and putting everything I had into the punch. I couldn't see a thing normally, but my suit's HUD showed me her figure, lying spread eagle in the ground. An easy target!

I slammed my fist into her face, the ground trembling from the blow. And then I did it again. And again. And-again-and-again-and-again-and-again-and-again until my arms felt like little more than wet noodles. And again until my gauntlets were cracked and my knuckles were split. And again until my bones were indiscernible from jelly. And again until my face was as moist with tears as my knuckles were with blood.

That may have been my great mistake. When I allowed the emotions to rush into me instead of scheming and planning, staying prepared for the inevitable counterattack.

"Is that all you've got, _Powerpuff Girl?_ " I jeered. "How disappointing that this is all you can do! Pathetic! What are you even doing, masquerading as some kind of symbol of peace in the backwards rock called Townsville? Why were _you_ blessed with everything you could ever want?! You've got friends, family, popularity, the love and respect of pretty much _everyone_ , and freaking superpowers! Why is someone like _you_ so… so _perfect_?!"

I may have said more things. Things that I'm not proud of, even if they were creative. But for some reason, it was that last question that triggered something. One moment, I was basically sitting on her, raining down tear-stained punches like a machinegun. The next, I'd been blasted sky high. I looked down and saw nothing but an ever expanding cloud of dust and smoke. For some reason, some of it was blood red. From the midst of it, Blossom rose.

" _Princess!_ " she roared. My blood froze in my veins. I've made Blossom mad on several occasions, but I'd never seen her like that before. Her eyes looked more like the eyes of a storm.

I'm glad I picked up on the change in her attitude so quickly, because if I hadn't put all my power into defences just then, I would have been dead. _Literally_. I didn't even see her move. One moment she was still a good distance away. The next, she was right in my face, punching me in the gut with everything she had. Even with a forcefield, a perfect anti chemical X barrier, I still felt all of the wind rushing out of my lungs. I still felt like my body was going to snap in half as I was forced through the air from the blow. I thought I even heard a sonic boom. Getting shot into orbit wouldn't have been impossible if Blossom hadn't somehow flown even faster, flying behind me and slamming me back into the ground.

I landed like a meteor, in a blaze of fire and exploding chunks of earth. _Everywhere_ hurt. My bones felt strained, and I could feel parts of my suit shredding. But I didn't even give myself the time to grovel in pain. I scrambled to my feet, trying desperately to run away, my heart pounding at a thousand miles per hour.

It didn't help.

Blossom landed in front of me, the force of the impact rupturing the ground beneath our feet. I staggered backwards, desperately putting my arms up to block her blows. There was no point. She was like a hurricane, striking in a thousand different places at once. My elbows, inner arms, knees, wrist, whatever she could get her hands (or feet) on. I'd fought her enough times to predict her moves, but it didn't even matter. I couldn't even _think_ fast enough.

She grabbed me by the arm before I could collapse from the shock and threw me over her shoulder like I was nothing. For some reason, everything exploded when she did this. And then, I froze.

Not like my body stiffened up or anything, I _literally_ froze. I was pretty confused at first, because as far as I could tell, I was just hovering in mid-air, upside down as I stared at Blossom a good fifty metres away, walking slowly with her eyes glowing blood red and balls of fire in her hands. It took me a moment to register the change in temperature before I realised that I was encased in a massive block of ice, a jaded monstrosity with stalagmites spreading in a million different directions. Basically, it was just my face that hadn't been covered up so I could see Blossom slowly approaching me.

I tried in vain to rip my way out, but the ice didn't so much as budge. If I heated up my suit, I could probably have melted my way out, but by that time Blossom would have incinerated me. I could have blasted my way out, but an explosion at such close range, with jagged bits of ice flying all around me? Sounded like a quick way to get decapitated by a rogue stalagmite. At least, if the blast didn't turn me inside out.

I had lost.

I shouldn't have been surprised (although I really shouldn't have been conscious either). What made me think I could actually fight Blossom and win? Sure, I'd had some close calls with her siblings before, but I'd never even gotten _close_ to beating her. It should have been obvious. What was I compared to someone like her? And still, I couldn't help the solitary tear that dripped down my face….

"It's not fair," I mumbled. I wasn't sure that she heard me since she kept coming anyway. "I'm not even in the same scale as you…. You've got so much power, you can do whatever you want…. You're strong and smart, and everybody trusts you. I tried so hard to copy you, to be _better_ than you. I trained and studied, I even got these stupid suits built to copy your powers. But that didn't work at all. I just don't understand. Why can't _I_ be adored by everyone like you?"

If she was paying attention, she didn't show it. If anything, I was just making her madder as the flames doubled in intensity. I was gonna be incinerated anyway, what did I have to lose anymore? No tricks were going to work on her, Blossom was too smart for that. All I could do was cry at the unfairness of it all, and maybe get her to understand how I felt.

"Everyone loves you no matter what you do. You don't have to try, you don't have to put effort into anything! You get sloppy and smash things, or blame it on somebody else, but that's just because you've spent so much time looking down on us that it doesn't even matter to you! I would _kill_ to have what you've got! Years of experience on the good guy's side, the love of everyone around you, a family that loves you and the opportunities to do what you want…. Even _if_ I had superpowers, I can't be a hero like you! I can't save everyone the way you do. I couldn't save those monsters, I can't save Townsville, I couldn't even save Mom!" My voice cracked there, but the words wouldn't stop pouring out of my mouth. "I'm trying my hardest for nothing, you're _already_ amazing and you don't care! How can you slack off like that and still be so _perfect?!_ "

I shut my eyes in a futile attempt to stop the tears from falling. I wasn't even sure where all of this was coming from. Why was I telling her all of this? Why did I have to mention Mom now of all times? My big mouth wasn't doing anything but making my defeat feel even more mortifying than it had to. I was sure that any minute, I was going to be melted down into a puddle. And so I waited for my impending doom.

But it never came.

If anything, I just felt somewhat warm (no I _did not_ wet myself from fear!) I opened my eyes to see Blossom was indeed firing laser beams, but not at me. Instead, she was kind of carving me out, melting as much of the ice near me as she could. The second I was free, I nearly collapsed to the ground, all the feeling in my limbs gone from the cold. Blossom caught me and helped me back to my feet. I then promptly proceeded to fall again before it was clear I wasn't going to be standing. I slowly sat down, resting my back against the freezing cold block of ice that now had a neat little indent that was just my size.

Blossom sat down next to me, although the fire in her eyes was gone now (both literally and metaphorically). They looked unfocussed as she stared off to some invisible point in the distance. Not sure what to say or do, I stared in the same direction. All I saw were a few buzzards flying away as they realised they were going hungry that night.

The time was lost somewhere in the space between here and forever. It may have been lifetimes before she finally spoke a word. Or perhaps I simply blinked.

"Perfect, huh?" she said. I looked at her, impatient for what else she had to say, but at the same time unsure if I actually wanted to hear it. "Not even you can see through the mask I guess."

"What're you-"

"Princess, you're right. This job, what everyone expects of me, it's hard. Literally ever since I was born, everyone's expected me to be the best. To be a leader, a role model for my siblings, the smartest, bravest, put together, neatest, _everything_. My flaws didn't matter. The fact that I'm controlling and bossy and sometimes even reckless was irrelevant. Everyone needed me to be the symbol of everything that's good about this place, for _everyone_ , and that's what I tried to become. But I'm thirteen. Technically almost half that if you consider how I was made. I can't deal with that kind of pressure. I can't handle the fact that a job well done means half the city is destroyed on my watch. I can't handle the thought of the mission going wrong. If people get hurt, it's my fault."

"B-but you kept trying! I couldn't even be a hero for one day until now! You're getting better at this with practice!" She laughed, though it was more to herself and sounded as hollow as an empty piggy bank.

"I guess you're still a liar."

"I'm not-"

"Yeah, you are. I _can't_ be getting better because nobody even criticises me anymore. Everyone relies on me so much, that as far as they care, I _have_ to be right. I _have_ to be saving them and doing it well. Because if I'm not… then who is? Nobody calls me out when I screw up. Half the time, I don't even _know_ I'm doing something wrong. I think I'm even _worse_."

I wanted to tell her that wasn't true again, but when I stopped to think about it, she definitely had a point. Just before I quit my life of crime, I had to grudgingly accept that the Powerpuff Girls were more qualified to be heroes than I was. But the only reason I became a hero myself was because I took that statement back after seeing their poor display of heroism.

I guess it didn't matter how true it was, because Blossom carried on anyway.

"You're… you were the first person to call me out for it in a long time. And sure you were angry and bitter and trying to provoke me, but at the end of the day, you were right. I'm not a hero. I'm just a poser with superpowers…."

"But… but that's _not_ true! Maybe you're _not_ perfect. But you're already so much better than me! It's why I hate you so much! N-n-no, w-wait, I don't hate you! Not anymore! I think you're really cool and wanna be like you _but not actually like you because it's annoying and_ … geez…. I'm just jealous of you…." I hid my face behind my hands, trying to hide my face that was gradually turning red. _Geez, Princess, way to say pretty much everything wrong_ and _add something embarrassing on top of it!_

Whatever, I rolled with it.

"Blossom, you're leagues ahead of everybody else I've ever met, even _without_ your powers. And even if you're reckless, you've saved so many people already."

"But I haven't. I've failed to save _so many more_. I made things worse during the Dynamo incident, I didn't know how to save the fake Powerpuff Girls. Even the people closest to me… I couldn't even save Bunny…."

I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but at the last one she basically curled up into a ball. I caught a glimpse of her eyes just before she hid her face behind her knees. I'd seen that look before. Five years ago, I'd had the same look in my own eyes when I looked in the mirror after Mom's funeral. Sometimes, it came back too. I didn't know this Bunny person, but I felt like I understood Blossom a little better.

There was so much that I wanted to say to her now that we weren't chucking thunderbolts at each other. There was so much I wanted to talk about, all these words and feelings swirling around begging to be let out and shared.

But all I could do was lean over and wrap my arms around her in a hug. It… it was awkward. It probably would have made more sense to pat her on the back or just drape one arm over her shoulders or something instead of trying to swallow her with my limbs. We were both frozen, unwilling to so much as move a muscle before I heard something that sounded like a snort.

 _Rude_ , was my first thought. Until I realised it was barely stifled laughter.

"Wh-what's so funny?!"

"It's just… you really don't know how to do this, huh?"

"Do what?"

"Say how you feel!" She broke into laughter, toppling me over as she hugged me back (with all the force of a rogue elephant, mind you). I could feel my face and the tips of my ears burning, although whether that was from embarrassment or her practically strangling me, I was unsure.

"S-shut up, Powderpuff! You're gonna give me your weird Powderpuff cooties!"

"It's too late now, I've seen your true colours. Apparently, they're all shades of red."

"Gah! Leave me alone!"

Thankfully, we were interrupted by an alarmed cry. We looked up to the sky to see Buttercup, now accompanied by Bubbles. I didn't even notice when she'd arrived.

"Ugh, are you done being all mushy and sharing your feelings?" Buttercup asked, rolling her eyes. "Because if you are, we've got trouble."

"Princess, that dragon, Gina found the source!" Bubbles yelled.

"Wait… what?" I quickly turned my comms channel back on. Almost before I'd even pressed the button, I heard Gina screaming at me from the other side.

" _Princess! Where have you been?! I've been trying to contact you for ages now!_ "

"Sorry, I turned them off for the fight…."

" _What if you were hurt?! Geez, way to worry me. Anyway… I was doing some poking around with that dragon, and get this; it's not even a dragon! It's some kind of chimera, a combination of some kind of condor, a killer whale, and a rattlesnake._ "

"That's great Gina, but that doesn't tell us much other than that it has a very weird family," I replied flatly.

"But here's the thing," Bubbles continued. "Remember the Rugaroos from the camping trip? Well, those had wolf, bat, and bee DNA in them, and the method to combine them looks the same as the dragon."

" _I couldn't figure out_ exactly _how it works, but I do know it needs a lot of raw materials and artificial compounds, like chemical X. And there's only one person in Townsville who has that much chemical X besides the Professor…._ "

Blossom figured it out pretty quickly, her eyes widening in shock. I was still clueless, even as she got to her feet, flexing her knees for take-off.

"C'mon girls, let's get this monkey off our backs," she said.

"Alright, that's what I was waiting for!" Buttercup roared, stretching her shoulders. "Nothing like a good old fashioned super villain beat down!"

I had a few objections to this. I hadn't finished my conversation with Blossom! My head was still swimming with all sorts of things, and that was before factoring in the mild concussion! Apparently, the same was true for Blossom.

"We'll finish our talk later," Blossom said. "For now, c'mon. Let's go."

"Huh? Uh… y-yeah, let's go!" I stuttered, starting up my jet boots again. In the next moment, the four of us were soaring through the sky to this supposed evil lair.

* * *

I should have been paying more attention, but I was still distracted from our fight. There was so much I wanted to say to Blossom. I hadn't even apologised for getting us in such a pointless fight. As a result, I didn't even realise it when we'd busted into this supposed evil lair.

"Not so fast," Buttercup started.

"Mojo," Bubbles, followed up.

"Jojo!" Blossom finished.

"What?" I added blankly. I didn't realise _that's_ where we were going! But sure enough, at the other side of the room was a now somewhat aged primate, with the odd colour combination of black and green fur. If you didn't know any better, he'd be just another monkey. Of course, you would have to ignore the bathrobe he was wearing or the fact that a considerable chunk of his enormous brain was sticking straight up out of his head (how he avoided permanent brain damage was beyond me. Maybe he didn't.)

The former nemesis of the Powerpuff Girls, Mojo Jojo, turned around in surprise to stare down his once (and probably still) hated foes.

"Powerpuff Girls? Here? Now?!" he yelled incredulously. "What is the meaning of this illegal trespassing upon the premises that I have worked hard to build, keep, and maint-"

"Ah can it ya overgrown ape!" Buttercup yelled. "You know why we're here. Quit producing those freaky chimeras, or else!"

"Chimeras? I have _no_ idea what you're talking about! Your accusations are false! Unfounded! Rude!"

Let me put this scene into perspective for you: We'd just slammed through the roof of his lair and landed in a room the size of a car park, filled with cages, fish tanks, and containers filled with animals from all around the globe. Mojo was sweating bullets at the other side of the room, in front of a _huge_ computer that had three enormous glass chambers next to it and a huge vat labelled 'X' above it. Mojo's blatant denial (complete with a suspiciously nervous smile) was comedy gold. Bubbles didn't think so, as she stared in horror at all of the animals, merged and unmerged, all around the room.

"This is… this is horrifying," she whimpered, on the verge of tears.

"Bubbles, are you okay?" Buttercup asked, although she was apparently ignored.

"Mojo Jojo…. _I will never forgive you!_ " With her fist clenched, her stance strong enough to break mountains, and laser beams coming out of her eyes, the scene couldn't have been more perfect if there was an active volcano going off behind her (technically, Mojo's lair was built over a volcano but that didn't count).

Mojo let out an embarrassing squeak and hastily pushed a big red button on the computer. Probably one labelled 'do NOT ever, ever, EVER push' or something similar. All of the cages opened, and all hell broke loose.

I already wasn't one hundred percent there, if you expect me to have kept track of that mad house then you're looking at the wrong person. Objects were hurled, poop was flung, profanities yelled. None escaped with their dignity intact.

The last thing I could clearly remember was being slammed into a wall by an overly enthusiastic gorilla while Bubbles tried desperately to calm it down with her fists. My head was sore and the rest of my body felt downright trampled. Maybe it was, I couldn't remember. Must have had something to do with my headache.

I heard a similar sounding thud somewhere to my left along with Blossom crying out in pain. I checked to see if she was okay but found myself staring down a yellow, slightly metallic wall. It looked somewhat familiar. I probably should have panicked, but my head still felt fuzzy. Then I heard the sound of electronics being smashed.

"You fool! What have you done?!" Mojo cried.

"This is for all the animals you've abused!" Bubbles screamed.

"But my instruments! Do you have any idea what will happen inside the Gene Splicer?!"

"Oh relax," Buttercup said. "It's not like anything important is insi – Blossom!"

"Huh?"

Buttercup's bloodcurdling cry of alarm was just enough to snap me out of my daze, but it was too late. I looked ahead of me and sure enough, there was a big steel door closing on me, trapping me in a chamber the size of a broom closet. Panic seeped into every part of my body.

Not like I had the time to panic of course. With a roar, I punched the door with everything I (and my suit) had. I made a tiny dent in it, but did more damage to my hand. I pulled it away, holding back the tears of pain as blood dripped down my knuckles, my suit's gauntlet still destroyed from fighting Blossom. Even if the suit was low on power, that blow should have blasted the door clean off its hinges. I tried again, and my fist felt like it was crumpling in on itself. But there wasn't even a dent this time.

Now I was _really_ panicking. I charged up bolts of lightning to sear open a hole, but the electricity just flew straight up, like there was some super magnet above my head. Actually, it sure felt like it. It felt like my whole body was rising. I looked up, and it was more like there was some weird funnel thing that was sucking up the stuff in the chamber.

'Ah, but what stuff' you might ask, remembering that I was completely alone in that chamber. I had to register the pain first before I figured it out.

It was bits of myself.

I'll try my best to describe this in a way that makes sense. Imagine if your body was made entirely out of fragments of light. Some shaped like wispy bits of colourful smoke, others like the lines of gold on a computer chip. Now imagine that somebody was ripping that light out of your skin, your body shredding and disintegrating before your very eyes, with the occasional thin strands of blood just to remind you that you are indeed a human being. Part of those strips of light may even _be_ your eyes, so prepare for your vision to flicker quite frequently.

It wasn't a pleasant experience by any means either. All of my nerves being ripped out of my body and dipped in bowls of hot soup. All my tendons torn and twisted into bunny knots. My muscles melted down into butter, bones ground into a spice and dropped in rivers of lightning. The air I breathed replaced with broken glass. Pain enough to drive me mad within moments. That was only a fraction of my reality even as I banged on the door desperately for Bubbles and Buttercup to help any way they could. For a moment, it looked like they would, but they stopped for whatever reason, and I watched in horror as what was left of me was torn to nothing.

* * *

Pain. Overwhelming, searing, blind, white hot pain. Flashes of light searing through the darkness before fizzling out once again.

* * *

And then, there was nothing.

Princess Morbucks….

Was dead.

* * *

The door opened with the hiss of smoke and steam, cold air rushing in to replace the boiling heat that was inside just a moment ago. I stumbled forward, exhaustion soaking into my very bones. Every glorious, intoxicating breath of air I took was a brilliant reminder that I was alive. That I walked and lived like anybody else. Every touch felt new, it _was_ new. I'd never before appreciated the beauty of awful corrugated steel beneath your feet until then. The smell of unwashed animals, the sight of my own hands, seemingly magnified in their magnificence… it was glorious. The sound….

It took me a few moments to realise that it had been awfully quiet since I stepped out. I looked up, my siblings and Mojo Jojo staring back at me in shock. It looked like Bubbles had gotten the animals under control.

Wait… my siblings?

I shook the thought from my head. I could address why I found such a natural fact so strange later.

"Well, this is rather peaceful for a melee against a supervillain," I pointed out, with a small smile. No response. "What? What are you all gawking at?"

"Blossom?" Bubbles asked. "Is that you?"

"Why of course it's me, darling," I replied. Wait, _she_ replied. Through her-my mouth. We stopped. "Umm… she means… of course _not_. I am none other than Prin-" We stopped again. That didn't sound right either. Talking to her… my… _our_ sisters wasn't helping.

We looked at our hands, trying our best to stop them from trembling as we realised they looked oddly alien and yet as familiar as ever.

"Who… who _are_ we?"


	15. I THINK WE MADE SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW

**Hi guys! So I've been rereading previous author notes and I sound super whiny! Like geez, maybe I shouldn't pour out my emotional bile here all over the internet for people to mock? Seems like a bad strategy... I should probably talk to people more about this stuff instead of dumping it here?**

 **Anyway, I'm feeling slightly better, but I still feel really crappy and haven't been able to write anything in a long time. So, if I don't do something soon, updates are gonna slow down drastically again, and it's too soon for that. So what I think I'm gonna do is change the number of updates from once a week to once every two weeks. I know, that seriously sucks, but I'm just stressing myself out knowing I've got this deadline shrinking and coming closer and closer, and though I can write pretty fast in a deadline induced panic, it's usually pretty bad, and I've apparently lost that ability as my miserable November has proven. So I'm gonna take a bit more time, so hopefully by the time I've run out of spare chapters, I've at least written _something_. I'm just giving you the heads up so you know I haven't just disappeared again if there's no chapter next Friday. So yeah, I'll see you all a few days before Christmas! Until then, enjoy the chapter!**

 **CHAPTER 15: I THINK WE MADE SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW**

The situation was somewhat awkward.

I was sitting in the middle of the Utonium household, trying not to look any odder. Daddy… err, the Professor, was somewhat distressed as you can imagine. I couldn't blame him either.

As far as he could tell, two of his little girls came flying back home with a third, slightly older girl who looked awfully familiar.

This girl's hair burned red, just like his daughter's, but only her fringe was straight. The rest of her hair was incredibly curly and somewhat wild, barely restrained in two bobs. She was dressed in a pair of pink jeans that looked (and definitely felt) a size or two too small, and were somewhat ripped. She also had a red crop top that looked a little bit like one of his daughter's favourite shirts. Perhaps this would have been normal if this girl wasn't wearing broken bits of golden armour on top of it. Shoulder and elbow pads, knee pads, part of a breastplate, the shin guards, and a golden tiara.

So, imagine the look on his face when Bubbles told him that this strange girl before him was actually his little girl. Or rather, an abomination, a hybrid between that pretentious little brat and some snobbish snot rag.

Yes, I am a chimera. I know, hard to believe with how charming I am, isn't it?

I didn't feel very charming at the time though.

Instead, I felt somewhat confused. Here I was in a house that I had vivid memories of living inside. But if I didn't think too hard about it, it felt oddly foreign, like I was a guest in my own living room. It was worse with my relatives, switching between viewing the Professor as my clumsy but kind Daddy and as this eccentric scientist who seemed destined to destroy the world via some hairbrained invention.

I was just glad that Daddy couldn't read thoughts, because he looked distressed enough as it was.

We'd been sitting in the living room for a while now, whilst Daddy stared at us (err, me. Force of habit), trying to wrap his head around this.

"So… you got caught in Mojo's fusion machine… and it combined Blossom, and Princess," he said, slowly as if to let it soak into his system.

"Essentially, yes," I replied. "Surprise?"

"Stuck together, potentially forever…."

"Oh come on now Daddy, there's no need to be so dramatic!" I said. "It's not like I've gone off and gotten married! I've just… been permanently bound to someone else! Oh hang on a minute, that's basically the same thing…."

Ugh. Nope. That thought made me nauseous in multiple places. I decided it would never be thought of again.

"So, what's it like?" Bubbles asked, the look of a far too curious kitten on her face. "You know, being kind of… fused?"

"Umm… it's a little bit odd…. I feel like I'm… out of focus? You see, when I talk to you or Buttercup, I think 'those are my sisters', but at the same time I'm thinking 'it's those brats that attacked me all those years', and both of those are technically true, and the more I think about it…."

I had to stop there. My head was pounding, and it sounded like I could hear a million different (increasingly bratty) voices in my head, pounding and echoing through my whole body.

 _Stop being mean to them!_

 _They're annoying and look stupid!_

 _You're annoying!_

 _Well that applies to you too since we're_ stuck together _!_

 _This is all your fault! You and your stupid sisters!_

 _What?! They're_ your _sisters! I think… I can't remember…._

We… _I_ tried to shake the thoughts away.

"It's hard. It's all just a big mess in my head. But once I calm down, it's different. I know those two insufferable children are inside me. I have their thoughts and memories. But I don't _feel_ like them. I feel like… me."

"Sorry Bloss, I don't get that," Buttercup said. "You feel like _you_?" I had to fight back a growing wave of irritation at the poor manner she addressed me.

"I am _not_ that stuck up know-it-all! If you haven't forgotten, I'm _also_ Miss Morbucks, and you should address me with the respect I deserve!"

"Then stop switching your personal pronouns! It's really confusing!"

"We are not!"

"See, right there! You did it again!"

Daddy cleared his throat, breaking us out of what almost became an incredibly petty squabble.

"So, my little girl is also someone _else's_ little girl." That one stung. It's not like I didn't remember times spent going to the park or him helping me with my homework (even if I already knew most of the answers). But it was definitely an odd situation. Even if she was a part of me, I wasn't Blossom. In fact, I felt jealous of her. Life was simple for her! Go to school, fight bad guys, and come back to good old Dad. But that same father didn't really look that way at _me_ , and that hit oddly close to home.

"That's… that's incredible!"

"Don't worry Daddy, I'm still your little girl insi-wait… what?"

After spending ten minutes moping in near silence, his face looked brighter than a Christmas tree as he examined me in awe. He walked around me mumbling to himself as if he was looking for a zip hiding two children.

"Chimeras between two similar creatures from birth aren't a recent discovery, or even exclusive to the realm of mad science. But to actually combine two living beings and have them keep their memories… that's incredible! Maybe I don't give Mojo enough credit?"

"Wait… so you're okay with this?"

"What? Oh, no! Not at all! This is…." He placed his hands on my shoulders reassuringly, looking e straight in the eye. "Blossom, Princess, this isn't going to be permanent. I promise, I will find a way to fix this, no matter what. You can't be stuck in the same body forever!"

"O-of course not," I stuttered as I shrugged his hands off. I'm not sure why, but his suggestion that something was wrong with us bothered me, even though it was one hundred percent correct.

"It's just that… how is this even possible? You two might look similar, but you're completely different."

"We do _not_ look similar!"

"Well, I suppose that doesn't matter. All that matters is that I find out how this makes _any_ sense so I can separate you."

"But Professor, what do we do until then?" Bubbles asked. "We can't be superheroes without Blossom. And where is she meant to stay? I'm not sure how Mr Morbucks will feel about this, but we can't keep Princess away from her family."

My blood ran cold at the thought of what Father would say or do if I showed up as this monstrosity, no matter how glamorous a monstrosity I may have been. I shook my head furiously.

"It's fine! I shall sleep here for the weekend!" I replied, a little bit too quickly. "I'm certain that I won't be missed at the mansion."

"And if it takes more than a weekend to fix?" Buttercup pointed out. "Going to school might be a little weird."

I had to grudgingly accept that she was right about that. I couldn't bear the thought of skipping school. Sure, Princess skipped class on very rare occasions, and Blossom's perfect attendance had been permanently marred by her sudden attack of the flu quite recently, but I was better than those two vagabonds. I couldn't afford to slack off.

"Weird or not, I'll go to school anyway," I replied. Buttercup stared sceptically at me.

"You sure about that?"

"Please, I'm a Powerpuff Girl. Stranger things have happened." Daddy didn't look like he was quite so keen on the idea.

"Anyway, let's not waste anymore daylight. Let's go to my lab so I can run some tests on you. The sooner we get these out of the way, the sooner we can work on getting you split up."

So, the start of my new life was pretty uneventful. It was spent in boring places like an overgrown monkey's secret lair and the laboratory of a mad scientist as he stuck me in a bunch of scanners and machines. I wasn't really sure what he was looking for, but it looked like after a few hours, he hadn't found it. So before he could accidentally set something on fire in a drowsy daze, I commanded him to retire to his bedchambers and then proceeded to go up to Blossom's room. It was while looking for a nightgown that I realised something of vital importance.

None of my clothes fit me anymore.

* * *

Walking around town in my now slightly damaged clothes wasn't a particularly fun experience. They'd stretched enough in the fusion process that they just looked like I was making a fashion statement, but I still felt exposed and uncomfortable. Bubbles had figured that it was a little inconvenient to be wearing such dreadful rags, so all three of us decided to use the opportunity to go shopping.

So we were in the middle of the mall, trying to look for something appropriate for me to wear while the Professor analysed the results of his weird tests. Bubbles was leading me, suggesting a whole bunch of places to get clothes that wouldn't tear a hole in my budget while still looking fashionable.

As if I needed to worry about my budget.

Still, it seemed a lot more fun going to places I wouldn't normally step foot in. Once Buttercup led me to a store that looked like it was constructed entirely of denim, with what must have been the world's greatest assortment of jeans and jackets. Much of it was distasteful, but the atmosphere had a certain charm to it that felt strangely settling.

Actually, everything felt like it was made of gold.

To be honest, I wasn't actually paying a lot of attention to my siblings. Just the day before I felt like I could barely control my own, far bulkier body. I looked and felt like I'd been aged up three or four years, but my mind, for all its vast stores of knowledge, felt as fresh and spongy as a baby's. Now compared to yesterday, I felt like I could actually control my body without hurting myself. What's more, every sensation, every touch, smell, or taste, felt _new_ , like I'd never experienced it before. In a way, I hadn't. Technically, I didn't exist until yesterday.

The cool air stroking my face as I walked (be it a gentle breeze or the mall's air conditioning), the cold, gentle kiss of an ice cream scoop, the different textures and feels of all the clothes in the mall, the seemingly small and insignificant things felt like they made up the entire world. Everything felt like a grand adventure. Even though I'd done it all a thousand times already, and a thousand more times in a different life, it all felt like my first time.

Actually, allow me to correct that observation. I _hadn't_ done it all two thousand times over. Princess and Blossom had done this all before, but they didn't really exist anymore. They were simply leftover emotions and fragmented memories, swirling around inside me and occasionally making me feel very, very conflicted. Essentially, I had just been born.

Anyway, I was busy contemplating the wondrous taste of my fifth ice cream cone as we were leaving the mall (whilst becoming increasingly concerned about the damage I was doing to my figure) when Bubbles snapped her fingers in my face.

"Gah! Stop it!" I snapped. "I wasn't ready for that at all!"

"You just looked really spaced out, that's all. Are you alright? Nothing's hurting?"

"No, there's not a scratch on me. I think." It was a little hard to tell. This body was still new, I didn't know which marks were meant to be there and which weren't.

"But like, are you _okay_?"

"Bubbles, darling, are you questioning whether or not I'm sound of mind? I'll have you know I'll take that as a very grievous insult!"

"Well can you blame her?" Buttercup asked. "You two aren't exactly friends. Being trapped in the same body must suck."

"Well, the occasional headaches are certainly splitting, pun intended. But otherwise, I feel like an entirely different person!"

"Well, that's awesome I guess! But, what are we even supposed to call you? It's been kinda awkward just saying 'you' the entire day. Prossom? Blincess? Princess Blossom?"

"No, no, and eww," I denied flatly. "I can't be referred to with such disgusting names! I'm far above your average Powerpuff girl, I should be referred to accordingly!"

"But it's just normal to combine the names of a fusion!" Bubbles said, slightly pouty. I glared at her.

"If you and Buttercup were fused, would you like to be called Bubblecup? How would you decide whose name goes first if you're supposed to be a perfect union? What if it's based on one person, should the name be Bubbles Times Two, or Super Buttercup? It's a foolish idea to name this new, far improved being after one of its imperfect components."

"Okay, sorry for suggesting it…. Let's just go back," Buttercup said. She didn't even bother wait for a reply, she just shot into the air in a streak of green light. Bubbles looked at me with concern.

"C'mon, let's go back home," she said. "We don't want to leave the Professor waiting."

"Umm… I think I'll find my way back later," I replied. Bubbles looked at me with concern.

"Will you be alright?"

"Why, of course! I'm a Powerpuff Girl after all!" Bubbles didn't seem convinced, but she let it go as she flew after her sister. To be honest, I wasn't even sure what would happen if I tried to fly, and as painful as it was to admit, I was scared to find out if _any_ of my powers worked. So, now I was stranded in the middle of town and I didn't feel like tarnishing myself further by taking one of those infernal buses.

Well, at least I know looked glamorous.

I had retained my beautiful red bow, and quite frankly, I felt like I wore it far better than Blossom ever could. My new body still felt incredibly awkward and I _really_ disliked the massive freckles on my arms that I had inherited from Princess. Not the annoying dorky ones on my face that were still barely acceptable as cute, but annoying large yellow ones all over my arms. I felt like a giraffe. Geez, was everyone just paid not to tell her how hideous they looked? Odds are they actually were.

So, I insisted on wearing a pale yellow blouse with a red jacket on top and the fanciest designer jeans I could find. I was torn between a glamorous set of pumps and a pair of sneakers for some odd reason but as the rest of my outfit had already dictated it, I ended up getting a pair of red sneakers. There was a little too much red on everything and not enough yellow but it would have to do for now.

With clothes that actually _fit_ now, I decided that perhaps I would take a stroll. Such a task sounded downright unthinkable at first. First of all, _walking_? Second of all, being surrounded by _ordinary people_? Heresy! But I suppose the high of everything being fresh and new was too much, even if the inner city mostly smelled of smog and pollution.

The sounds of pretty much everything else were drowned out by the traffic and the chatter of pedestrians, nothing intelligible really. It was almost a kind of silence. With time to myself, it was no wonder that my thoughts started to drift to how crazy all of this was.

What were we even fighting about?

It seemed so distant now but it felt like none of us were understood, like we were both expected to be people we weren't. We needed to be perfect, a role model, some kind of icon of justice. Or else we needed to be prim and proper and above mere mortals for the sake of making Father look good. We pushed ourselves to become perfect at everything, or to be better than everyone. We weren't really being… _us_. We weren't even very good at this act of perfection. None of us gave the other a chance to see that maybe, _maybe_ we weren't so different after all. We didn't bother talking about it, certainly not to each other. For all our privileges, life felt pretty lame.

But that was even more bothersome. If I had all the material goods I could want, and love and support from at least _half_ of my family and friends, then why did I still feel incompetent or incapable? Why did it feel like I somehow resented myself?

I would like to think I would have eventually found an answer if I hadn't heard the screeching of car tires and the blare of police sirens. I'm sure it was super loud and super obvious and if I had been paying even the _slightest_ bit of attention I would have heard it long ago. Instead, I only noticed and looked up from my feet when there was a car screeching around a corner, almost sideways from all the momentum it was carrying.

The road was too insignificant to contain this metal monstrosity, because it had abandoned the road altogether and was skidding down the sidewalk and heading straight for me.

I froze, my blood turning to ice as it hurtled towards me. I spent too many split seconds completely flabbergasted, there was no time left to dive out of the way. I didn't have the time to think of some brilliant plan. So I shut my eyes and held my arms in front of me.

The result? It felt like something with a really large fist punched me in my everywhere, knuckle dusters and all. I screamed as bones shattered and blood leaped from my torn skin and muscles, spinning through the air in a blinded daze… except none of that happened. I just kind of stood there, mildly sore but overall in the same position, something metallic and sharp in some places wrapped around my arms, the only part of my body besides my feet that even felt mildly stressed.

A little nervously, I opened my eyes. Contrary to my belief, I wasn'ta smudge on the side of the road. Sure, my feet had been dragged a few feet backwards and into the road and felt like they'd been holding an intense yoga pose, but they were pretty much fine (the same could not be said for my poor trainers). My arms were still stretched ahead of me in a foolish attempt to stop the incoming car that worked for some absurd reason. They had sort of embedded themselves in the hood of the car, and I could feel all sorts of odd mechanical parts and engine oil, a sensation that was somewhat disgusting.

That should have been such a reassuring moment, realising I had working super strength, but I could only look up in horror through the shattered windshield. The driver's face was covered by the enormous airbag that had deployed to save his life, although the occasional splotches of blood I could see and the stillness of his body made it difficult to tell if it had really gotten the job done.

I ripped my hands out of the car in horror, too dumbfounded at the prospect of accidental murder to speak. Surely he was still alive, right? I hadn't hit him directly, and the airbag was there. But why was there so much blood in the car? Surely that only happened in movies, right? And why wasn't he moving?

For a moment, I thought maybe he was alright as I saw the flicker of movement, but it was only the backdoor as a shady looking passenger crawled out, coughing and trying not to cry about his wounds. He looked up at me, and even though most of his face was hidden behind a balaclava, the terror in his eyes was all too easy to see.

"S-s-stay away from me!" he whimpered, crawling backwards on his rear, occasionally stumbling as he did so.

"Take it easy," I said. "I'm not gonna hurt you." I actually wasn't lying either. It was my duty right now to incapacitate him so the proper authorities to take care of it, but I didn't really trust my own strength. Regardless, the man didn't believe me as he pulled out a small handgun, holding it up to me in shaky hands.

"Get back you freak! I-I'm warning you!"

"I'm not-"

He fired. Once, twice, three times. I barely even noticed the first two as they bounced off of my skin, feeling more like sharp needles than lethal weapons of war. It was the third time that shook me up. I could hardly see it, but the bullet bounced off me and ricocheted right back to the gunman, lodging itself oh so neatly in his foot.

His screams of pain were maddening.

I clenched my head in panic as he grabbed his foot in pain.

"I-I'm so sorry!" I yelled. I probably shouldn't have cared so much considering he was a rotten crook, but I hadn't expected to hurt him just by standing still! Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if a whole squad of police cruisers hadn't suddenly appeared around the corner.

I had less than a split second to react. I could have shoved him out of the way, but I didn't even know my own strength yet. The force alone would kill him. I didn't have a choice, I leaped in front of him, spread my arms wide and shut my eyes, bracing myself for impact.

I felt it slam into my stomach, and even with an invulnerable body, it kind of hurt. But judging by the crunch of steel and the screeching of car tires, followed by a resounding crash, it must have hurt far more for whoever was driving.

I slowly cracked open my eyes. A bunch of other police cars were skidding to a stop just in front of me, probably aware of the danger by now. There were skid marks on the ground in front of my feet. I slowly looked behind me to see the police car slotted neatly in the middle of a tall streetlight, now doubled over to accommodate its new guest. The car must have simply grazed me and skidded out of control to the side. The crook behind me was fine, but the police car was wrecked, the officer inside stumbling out in a stupor.

Police officers were getting out of the cars all around, and to my growing horror, pulling out guns and aiming them straight at me. I'm sure they were saying all of the stock phrases like "put your hands in the air" or "don't move" or "we will totally shoot, law be damned!" or something of the sort. But I was too shocked at the escalating chaos within the span of ten seconds, even whilst I basically just stood still.

I felt like I would hurl at any moment, and every crack and dent, every drop of blood or terrified glare, everything felt magnified by a thousand times, and it was all my fault.

I'll be honest, I don't know what I should have done. But maybe hastily blurting out some kind of apology as I flew away at Mach Two was a bad idea, especially since I looked back and saw a small crater from my take off and all the cars shuddering and windows breaking from it. The sound can't have been pleasant, and my take off might have left a few injuries.

 _Great, even running away is dangerous!_ I complained internally. I guess complaining was the only thing I could do safely….

* * *

I'd found myself in the middle of a very familiar forest, staring into a small lake. There was once a waterfall there until I'd carelessly destroyed it. Sorry, _Blossom_ had destroyed it. It was getting harder to distinguish who I even was, and my head was pounding, the voices in my head screaming louder and louder, accusing and ridiculing me for a mistake I couldn't correct.

So, I had all my powers then. Great. So why did I feel even more powerless than before? My mere presence caused a natural disaster, that was the burden I had to carry with me, but it felt so much stronger than before. I looked at my rather crestfallen reflection. The more I stared, the more my head would pound. The feelings of panic and guilt weren't going to go away if I simply ran from them. I had to find some way to silence it all.

So I shut my eyes. And focussed. As hard as it was, I tried not to think about the disaster I had just escaped from. I tried not to wonder where my siblings were, or why I hadn't even bothered to tell my _friends_ what was happening. I tried not to feel all the pain or hear those people scream in horror. I tried not to think of who I even was. I just… existed.

I opened them again. I stared into the lake, but Princess stared back at me, her frizzy hair and stupid freckles and all, but she didn't look down her nose in contempt this time. She looked… scared, and her eyes wide and borderline teary.

" _That's_ what you have to live with?!" she cried. "Blossom… I didn't even know! Being a Powerpuff girl…. All I have to do is _sneeze_ and people die! I never even realised… being careful isn't enough! That man… did I just… I…."

I blinked, and Princess's face was gone. Staring back at me was Blossom, and though she didn't look like she was going to cry, her eyes looked distant, like she was looking back at an old memory.

"I forgot what that was like…. I remember that feeling, looking at everything around me and asking what I just did. But I've been so comfortable with this job, I didn't even realise it's still the same. The only difference between now and every other time is that normally the people are on _my_ side. Looking through your eyes… that's what I'm doing all the time?"

I blinked. Princess was back.

"Blossom I'm… I'm sorry. All this time, I just thought you sat back and lapped up the praise. That kind of pressure… I panicked, I brought you down. I couldn't take it for a single second. You _live_ with that. How do you get the strength to get up and keep on trying to save people, knowing how badly it can go?"

"I don't," Blossom replied. "I stopped noticing after a while. No wonder you're always mad at me! You can notice all these little things that I can't! And I'm supposed to be a leader, but I don't even see all the damage I cause…. You're not pulling me down, you're helping me see this stuff!"

Princess sighed as Blossom's image faded away.

"Hey…. Maybe we've both been going about this wrong. We're always looking down on ourselves and each other, but maybe if we actually listened and worked together, we could stop all the bad stuff we keep doing. I wouldn't have been yelling at you all the time or been a villain for years…."

"And I would actually be a better hero, and wouldn't cause incidents like today…."

"It's so hard though…. We're just kids. We're trying to be adults and do everything perfectly. I'm trying to be practical and a realist…."

"And I'm trying to be idealistic and esoteric…."

"Obviously we're gonna screw this up. Why did we try to do so much so quickly?"

"Because people needed us to?"

"Because people wanted us to?"

"It's hard. But don't worry, we've got eachother."

"Ya, no matter what!"

I blinked. The images were gone, and I was staring at myself again. Somewhat ashen and a little teary.

"What am I doing?" I asked myself. "I'm talking to myself, using fractured memories and illusions from people who don't exist anymore. I must be pretty stupid, huh?"

But I didn't _feel_ like that. Even as I flew to the top of a tree and stared at the sunset, I didn't feel quite so alone anymore. Even though Princess and Blossom were as good as dead, I felt warm inside, with the reassurance that I'd been searching for that we had eachother. Suddenly, the day didn't seem so bad anymore.

And then my sisters had to fly up to me with the look of death on their faces. Whatever they were gonna say, I was _not_ gonna like it.


End file.
